Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, who filed the bill, said most of the routine checks such as cross-referencing data on the loan forms with other agency databases were suspended for this program.

State Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, supported the idea but warned that the measure being subject to appropriation is an empty promise. “All I can say is you can’t have it all.

Democratic state Rep. Fred Crespo suggested a hiring freeze and across-the-board reductions to reduce the budget. “And we came up with a billion dollars, and my understanding was that that wasn ...