There is no Olympic money

UPDATE: Talked to Noland today. He said the Olympic money question came from the audience and his response was that he'd look into it and if money did exist he'd see if it could be spent elsewhere.
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If you were among the select few at state Sen. Mike Noland’s townhall meeting Wednesday night, you might have come away with the impression the state suddenly has $250 million to spend now that the Olympics aren’t coming to Chicago in 2016.

"We're going to see what we can do to redirect that in a very positive matter throughout the state," Noland said.

One problem. There is no money. Never was. You see lawmakers voted to have the state guarantee that amount should those games lose money in excess of what private insurance and Chicago would cover. But there was never any money earmarked or set aside in the state budget for this. If the games had lost money, it would have been up to 2016 lawmakers to find the cash.

I've got a message pending at his office. (see above)

If there was an extra $250 million for Olympics that now won’t happen, it’d be pretty easy for lawmakers to fill the hole in a key student aid program that Gov. Pat Quinn chose to only fund for the fall semester with the budget money lawmakers sent him to prioritize.

With those students now facing no funding for the spring semester, Quinn is now asking lawmakers to come up with the student aid money that he chose to spend elsewhere.

Lawmakers are back in session next week for a brief fall session.