The state’s complex and duplicative social-welfare system is punishing many of those who seek to move up the ladder of economic opportunity.

The DCEO’s decision to play by its own rules deserves scrutiny not only because of its monetary cost, but because it involves a fiduciary failure symptomatic of governmental disregard for the rule of law. It exemplifies a political culture that must change if Illinois government is to turn the corner and move toward restoration and renewal.