The documents. The decisions. The cost.
Federal officials say Illinois' non-domiciled CDL program failed to follow federal rules, with an audit finding nearly 1 in 5 sampled licenses were issued illegally and warning Illinois could risk $128 million in federal highway funding.
The CDL Scandal
Our first video asks a simple question: how did this happen on Alexi Giannoulias' watch?
What federal investigators found
Nearly 1 in 5 flagged
FMCSA said 29 of 150 sampled non-domiciled CDL records failed to comply with federal requirements.
Licenses beyond lawful presence
Federal investigators said Illinois issued some CDLs that lasted beyond the expiration of drivers' lawful-presence documents.
$128M at risk
USDOT warned Illinois had 30 days to come into compliance or risk losing $128 million in federal highway funding.
Alexi's office denies the findings
Giannoulias' office condemned the federal threat, said Illinois believed its CDL policies were substantially compliant, and argued the federal review failed to recognize extensions granted to certain employment authorization documents.
But the questions remain.
Questions Alexi should answer
Who was responsible for oversight of Illinois' non-domiciled CDL process?
Why did federal investigators say licenses were issued beyond lawful-presence dates?
Why was Illinois unable to provide proof of verification in certain sampled records?
What safeguards failed?
Why should Chicago trust Alexi with a bigger job?
Read the files yourself
USDOT February 17 press release
FMCSA Preliminary Determination letter
Illinois Secretary of State response
News coverage/updates
Chicago can't afford another Alexi file.
The Alexi Files will continue tracking the record, the documents, and the unanswered questions.