Illinois didn’t claw back any BIG grants for noncompliance with Pritzker’s closure orders

(The Center Square) – State agency officials responsible for giving out business aid grants said they had yet to punish any business for noncompliance with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation orders.

Agency officials also said they could have better communicated with businesses about applications.

Illinois’ Business Interruption Grants, administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, provided $580 million to businesses across the state in two waves last year.

DCEO officials gave details to a virtual panel of state lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday.

The money was split between childcare grants and aid for applying businesses. $133 million went to restaurants and taverns. More than eight-in-ten of the 42,000 businesses that applied were denied aid, with many getting notice between Christmas and New Years Day of the denial.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said their constituent businesses were frustrated with not only getting denied any help but being strung along for months.

“I’ve had several businesses and groups call my office and say they’ve applied but, when you look at who was awarded the grants, it’s pretty dismal from my district,” said Sen. Napoleon Harris, D-Harvey.

State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, asked what the department was doing to ensure grant funds weren’t going to a business that was flouting Pritzker’s closure orders.

DCEO Chief of staff Cara Bader said they had prioritized communicating compliance over clawing back funds.

“We have not forcibly clawed back funds from any grantees yet but we have initiated actions for dozens of prospective grantees,” she said. “

Gov. J.B. Pritzker had said businesses who disregarded his closure orders risked their eligibility for state aid.

Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles, said the lack of communication about the lifelines was entirely unacceptable.

“Most of the people that I have in my district simply received letters in December that said the money was all gone and got virtually no communication as to why their application was denied, overlooked, or if it was even processed to begin with,” he said. “The communication with some of the applicants in my district was pathetic.”

DeWitte also criticized DCEO’s lack of transparency in who received the funds.

Bader admitted they could have done a better job at communicating with applicants and explained why they waited so long to stop accepting applications.

“To meet the hardest hit geography and industry requirements of this program, the department kept the application open to ensure the greatest possible chance that very small businesses, businesses that were in DIA’s, and heavily-impacted industries would be able to receive support,” she said.

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