Extra edition! Illinois corruption 7/25/12: Dem legislator's scholarship records subpoenaed

Grant Park, Chicago

According to the Better Government Association, 40 Illinois state legislators handed out 120 college scholarships to people who didn't live in their districts between 2003 and 2011. Thankfully the scholarship program doesn't exist anymore. Of course this being Illinois, many of those "legit" scholarships went to cronies, not those truly in need.

When students pay nothing to go to college, those who do pay of course have to shell out more.

In an exclusive, the Chicago Sun-Times' Dave McKinney disclosed that a federal grand jury subpoenaed scholarship records from the office of Rep. Dan Burke, a Southwest Side Chicago Democrat. McKinney ruins an otherwise great scoop by--as of 6:00pm CDT--by neglecting to mention Burke's party affiliation.

From the Sun-Times:

Sarah Rae Dowis got nearly $70,000 in waivers from Burke under a program beset for decades by cronyism, insider dealings and sleight of hand. Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation abolishing the program earlier this summer.

Records show that Dowis got four years of college tuition to Southern Illinois University set aside by Burke between 2003 and 2008. She is the daughter of his one-time legislative secretary in Springfield, Judy Dowis, who worked for him for a six-year stint ending in early 2003.

State law requires [sic] that recipients of these types of tuition waivers certify that they live within the awarding legislator's district. In Dowis' case, conflicting details exist about whether she really met that requirement.

In sworn paperwork she submitted to the State Board of Education, Dowis listed her permanent residence as a small bungalow in the 5700 block of South Homan. She even registered to vote there in 2005, mid-way through her college career.

UPDATE July 26: The Sun-Times updated the story and added Burke's party affiliation. The legislator is the brother of powerful Chicago alderman Ed Burke and the brother-in-law of Anne Burke, a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court.

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