Gov. Pat Quinn is defending spending $50 million on a new initiative aimed at helping to rebuild struggling neighborhoods while the state has unpaid bills piling up.
CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn is defending spending $50 million on a new initiative aimed at helping to rebuild struggling neighborhoods while the state has unpaid bills piling up. The governor’s office says the new anti-violence initiative is a mix of federal money and state money that lawmakers gave Quinn discretion to spend. It’s the second time in two weeks Quinn has announced he’ll spend some of that money. The Chicago Democrat recently announced he would use $75 million to keep a temporary jobs program going while Illinois waits for Congress to approve more money for it. Quinn, who is in a tough election battle, says it’s a governor’s duty to act when circumstances require it. He says the state is working to pay vendors owed money. Illinois has a $13 billion deficit. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
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