by Kate Piercy Although Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, USA Today reports “there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose,” finding: Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according...

In 2008, social workers in all of Illinois made 17% less, on average, than social workers employed by the State of Illinois.

In 2008, switchboard operators on the state payroll made 29% more in wages on average than their counterparts in the rest of Illinois.

In 2008, Illinois Department of Human Services paid its 15,490 over $800 million in combined wages.

The average annual wages for state machinists is more than double the average for machinists in Illinois.