In FY 1992, Burris’ office issued roughly $4 million in outside legal contracts to individuals and law firms, according to the book, Illinois For Sale, which was published in 1997. More than $2.25 million of that amount went to contributors to Burris’ campaign or to the main Democratic fundraising committee. FROM POST: 35
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AGENCIES RECEIVE UNEXPECTED CASH
Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL) - Friday, June 17, 1994
Author: STEVE ARNEY
Roland Burris , Illinois attorney general and the bearer of many nasty surprises such as lawsuits, enjoys pleasant surprises, too.
He convened an impromptu reception at Catholic Social Services in Bloomington Thursday to hand out three unexpected checks totaling $25,000.
Accepting checks were representatives from Women’s Counseling and Support Services ($10,000), BroMenn Home Health Care ($10,000) and John M. Scott Health Resource Center ($5,000).
“Everybody smile and say, `Money,’ “ Burris said as cameras clicked.
Then he was off to Champaign to distribute four more checks totaling $50,000.
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CHRISTMAS MONEY IN JUNE FROM SANTA ROLAND BURRIS
Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL) - Thursday, June 23, 1994
Author: bw
Editorial
EXCERPT
The money given to the Bloomington-Normal groups last week came from the status change of Personal Care HMO in Champaign-Urbana in late 1988 or early 1989, according to the attorney general’s office. The HMO had to pay $400,000 plus interest in eight annual installments.
Where the money comes from is important, Burris’ office said, because they try to earmark the money to similar charitable groups in the same region. In this instance, they reviewed the annual registrations required of charitable groups and looked for health-care related charities in Central Illinois, Burris’ office said.
Burris has handed out these funds since he became attorney general, but his office didn’t have a breakdown of amounts or recipients immediately available.
Handing out checks has to be pleasurable, and Burris doesn’t get many such jobs.
It’s hard to say anything bad about $25,000 going to three worthwhile area charities, but we think the law allowing such disbursements at the discretion of any single office holder ought to be examined.
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BURRIS’ OLD LAW FIRM TOPS LIST OF MINORITIES HE AIDED
Chicago Tribune - Saturday, February 26, 1994
Author: Flynn McRoberts, Tribune Staff Writer.
Roland Burris has a quick response when asked about his former relationship with a Chicago law firm, which has won nearly a half-million dollars in state legal work since he became Illinois attorney general.
He says the work received by Jones Ware & Grenard, the state’s largest black-owned law firm, shows his commitment to opening state legal work to minorities.
“I have spent my whole life making sure that minorities . . . receive their fair share of contracts and business,” Burris said during Tuesday’s radio debate among the three main Democratic gubernatorial contenders
State records and interviews with minority-owned law firms indicate Burris accurately defended himself. The amount of legal work throughout state government that has gone to minority-owned firms has nearly tripled since Burris was elected attorney general in November 1990-an increase several firms attributed either directly or indirectly to Burris.
But those records also show that Jones Ware & Grenard or individual partners in the firm received nearly a third of the $1.52 million in state legal work awarded to minority firms from fiscal year 1991 to the present, according to an analysis of state records by the attorney general’s office.
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The article mentions Rahm Emanuel. The special election, to replace him, has one conservative, Rosanna Pulido, the founder and director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, and I’m her campaign manager. If you know any conservatives who live in the Chicago area, please ask them to read Rosanna’s site, www.rosannapulido2009.com. She’s the only candidate, in that race, who is pro-life, anti-illegal alien, and pro-gun.