The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Children die as bureaucracy stalls in LA County
“For at least 18 years, Los Angeles County has repeatedly received urgent and sometimes gruesome reminders that its agencies don’t share vital information about potentially abused or neglected children, according to a Times investigation. There have been numerous calls for reform—but little action. In the passing years, an unknown number of children have been harmed…
Read MoreGenerous Assembly
A five-part series in The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) put the spotlight on costly state policy decisions. Stories addressed wide-ranging topics: the high cost of enforcing the state’s mandatory sentencing law for low-level felons; lack of generic drug requirements for Medicaid patients; pet projects and untracked spending; corporate tax loopholes; and the hidden cost…
Read MoreSchool district pays for risky bond swaps
The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., published “Risky Business,” a four-part series on the Bethlehem Area School District’s costly use of variable-rate bonds and swaps to finance hundreds of millions of dollars in school renovations. “While the board approved swap after swap on the advice of the administration and former financial consultant Les Bear, no…
Read MoreAdmissions ‘clout list’ outed at Univ. of Illinois
The University of Illinois is re-evaluating its admissions policies after the Chicago Tribune uncovered a “shadow admissions process” for politically connected applicants. “At a time when it’s more competitive than ever to get into the University of Illinois, some students with subpar academic records are being admitted after interference from state lawmakers and university trustees,”…
Read MoreMembers of Congress benefit from farm subsidies
The Panama City News Herald tallied farm subsidy data for Florida and examined the subsidies paid to U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and other Congressional leaders with ties to agriculture. Matt Dixon reported that in “Boyd’s first 10 years in Congress, Boyd Family Farms has received $1.2 million in subsidy payments, ranking it 12th out of…
Read MoreFederal money used for expensive dinners, lobbying
While schools struggle though a budget crisis and freeze funds, San Diego Unified spent more than $2,000 in federal money for disadvantaged students to send its superintendent to a conference in Washington, D.C. “Deputy Superintendent Chuck Morris, who approved the spending, now says charging the federal fund for the expenses was inappropriate and vowed to…
Read MoreAnalysis finds lost students
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis found that the state of Georgia does not keep track of all of students, which leads to questions about the state’s dropout and graduation rates. According to the article, “Last year, school staff marked more than 25,000 students as transferring to other Georgia public schools, but no school reported them as…
Read MoreHUD apartment loans questioned
A three-day series by The Columbus Dispatch explored a little-known facet of the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage insurance, which, in addition the helping first-time home buyers obtain loans, insures $56 billion in outstanding loans for developers to build and renovate apartments for people of modest means. “Bad loans, no penalties” examined how developers who have…
Read MoreFederal stimulus contracts favor large firms
A story by Michael Jamison of the Missoulian (Missoula, Mont.) shows that the contracting scheme the federal government is employing to award stimulus contracts favors large corporations over small- and medium-sized firms. In an effort to speed up the bidding process, the federal government is using indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, or IDIQ, contracting. “An IDIQ is…
Read MoreLobbyists can spend unlimited amounts to honor lawmakers
A USA Today analysis shows lobbyists paid $35.8 million in 2008 to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members. “Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can…
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