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Chicago Reporter looks at how "$780 million was doled out of Illinois over the past two years." The money was portion of the $12-billion Illinois Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools and Transportation (FIRST), the story reveals. The millions were given to political party leaders to spend on projects aimed to boost legislators in politically vulnerable districts. Lawmakers in white districts received more than those in black and Latino districts, the publication reports. A major finding is that, at the time when Illinois entered a fiscal crisis, the "decisions about who got the money and for what projects were settled behind closed doors, without public oversight."