Kurt Granberg Takes $50,000 from Campaign Fund

by Cal Skinner
The term used to keep people from knowing the plain truth is

“Money taken by candidate pursuant to Section 5-9-8.10(11)
CITIZENS FOR GRANBERG “

It means that campaign contributions have been converted to personal use, a practice that only legislators in office when that practice was prospectively prohibited can do.

A compromise to get the votes of legislators with a lot of money in their campaign funds. The law allowed state legislators to withdraw for personal use whatever was in their political action committees as June 30, 1998.

Twenty-year veteran Kurt Granberg took $50,000 on October 6, 2008. He had $179,152.57 on June 30, 1998.

It was first made public on Inauguration Day.

The practice is not limited to Democrats.

Republicans do it, too.

Granberg took office as state representative in 1987.

A close ally of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Granberg resigned before the impeachment vote and has recently been appointed Director of the Department of Natural Resources.

That will increase his pension a lot. His new pay will be $133,000 a year.

In the image above State Representatives Kurt Granberg and Brandon Phelps discuss their recent hearings with Southern Illinois winery owners. Granberg is on the left.

According to the Bloomington Pantagraph, Granberg wants

"to push the Department of Natural Resources toward a mission with more of an economic development mindset.

"His golf trail concept mirrors the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

"The idea is to draw visitors to the region for overnight stays. Golfers play one course and go to dinner and then their hotel, and then they move to another course the next day."

Oh, yes. Granberg will have to pay income taxes on the $50,000 he converted to personal use.

Posted first on McHenry County Blog.