QuinnFail: Jobs program cost millions, created few jobs

Pat Quinn's Illinois flgo

Illinois' recovery from the Great Recession lags that of the rest of the nation and at some point, an open-minded governor might ask, "Our my policies working?" The Prairie State's hapless governor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn, is beholden to left-wing mantras such as government can grow the economy. It can, if it stays the hell out of the way.

On Sunday the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association reported on a multi-million state jobs program, the Urban Weatherization Initiative, concentrated in the black community that has created very few jobs. The ultimate failure is that the state falsely raised the hopes of downcast individuals. But there is so much more, these paragraphs only outline the debacle.

◆ More than 1,900 people have been trained for jobs as laborers and inspectors for the program. But only a fraction of them have been put to work or found jobs utilizing their skills outside the program. Exactly how many isn’t clear. State officials say they don’t have a figure. People involved with the program say it’s only a small percentage of those trained.

◆ Officials say that’s because no work on homes was done until last spring — three years later than planned. As a result, only 183 homes have gotten energy upgrades.

◆ More than $13 million of the $16 million-plus spent so far has gone for administrative costs and training.

◆ Worker training didn’t begin until 2011, though Quinn signed the legislation into law in July 2009.

Illinoisans deserve a better governor, Republican businessman and political newcomer Bruce Rauner.

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