The Grant Accountability and Transparency Act, signed into law by the Governor on Wednesday, strengthens and streamlines requirements for all state grants across all state agencies. The reforms include stronger state grant procedures to bring them in line with federal standards; improved conflict of interest disclosure requirements; and strict, real-time auditing of all state grants.
The new law is in response to a report by the Illinois Single Audit Commission, created last year by legislation spearheaded by Leader Patti Bellock, which found that, currently, the Illinois grant process has no common application, no common grant agreement, a lack of transparency, no uniform administrative rules, and a lack of a State-wide non-compliance list. Many of these issues are what result in the ability to misuse grant funds. The legislation co-sponsored by Leader Bellock and signed by the Governor remedies all those current failures. Read more.