Illinois is really good at spending money.
Governor Pat Quinn today said today that Illinois ranks among the top in the nation for the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is a long way of saying stimulus funds.
So far the state has spent $170,605,614 of the stimulus funds, which,according to Federal Highway Administration data, is nearly triple the expenditures of the next highest state.
“Illinois is committed to spending federal recovery funds in a targeted, timely and transparent manner,” Quinn said.
The Governor touted the fact the state’s more than 239 pending highway projects as a win. But as Crain’s Chicago Business points out, the reason the state has gotten so much funding is because they bungled road projects in the past.