Attn: DuPage County Employees

From your Chicago Sun-Times:

[Illinois whistleblower law now] protects whistleblowers from retribution and offers rewards. If the government recovers money from contractors defrauding state government, the whistleblower can take home up to 30 percent.

Until last week, the law only applied to whistleblowers in state government and a handful of Illinois municipalities. Now, the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act offers protections and rewards for people who identify fraud in all forms of government -- from counties to the CTA and the local Water Reclamation District. ***

The law, pushed by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, offers incentives for whistleblowers and also can serve as a powerful deterrent. If the government proves fraud, the contractor must repay the government three times the damages plus fines. The contractor must also pay legal fees both for the whistleblower and the government. ***

Under a similar federal law, the government has recovered more than $20 billion since 1986. More than $2 billion went to whistleblowers, according the U.S. Department of Justice.

Patt Quinn told your Chicago Tribune, "We've had a 'corruption tax' that taxpayers are sick and tired of paying.":

Quinn said that with local governments' tax bills going out Feb. 1, the expanded law is a way to protect the tax dollars that people pay. Corruption "is a blow for property taxpayers," he said. "When they see monkey business in government, they should report that monkey business."

Not that such things ever occur in any corner of DuPage County government.