Illinois Republican state senators are calling for a full audit of the state’s unemployment insurance program. An auditor general’s report this week shows more than 4,500 people got nearly $42 million without the Illinois Department of Employment Security verifying who they are. There were 164 people too young to work getting more than $1.5 million in pandemic unemployment money. Some unemployment money recipients last year were dead and a few weren’t even born yet.
Sen. Sue Rezin of Morris says Gov. Pritzker owes the people an explanation.
Rezin says these problems cover just the first few weeks of the pandemic, so the complete picture could be far worse.