State Rep. Ron Sandack Warns of More Misuse Of Taxpayer Money [AUDIO]

Here we go again.

That's the main message from Illinois Republican leaders, who say $20 million in a new allocation to the Illinois Department of Labor for social programs could be a reprisal of the troubled Neighborhood Recovery Initiative program. The details of how $55 million in taxpayer dollars was used and awarded in NRI has drawn both state and federal investigations.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Quinn aides say the money is going into job-training programs. A similar explanation, of course, was used as the same excuse to downplay criticism of the NRI program in 2011 and 2012.

House GOP leader Jim Durkin was critical of the new money and how it might be spent:

Durkin, of Western Springs, recounted how GOP lawmakers were stonewalled when they sought explanations from Democratic lawmakers about the purpose of the money when it was inserted into the budget during the end of the spring session. Durkin warned the new dollars come with the same “fingerprints” as Quinn’s flawed 2010 initiative.

We talked with State Rep. Ron Sandack on the show this morning to dig into greater detail on exactly what we know and and what we don't know about this mysterious $20 million in the most recently approved Illinois budget: