Posted: Aug 01, 2016 5:36 PM EDT

By: Doug Wolfe

 

 

 

Decatur – The Veterans Administration has been engaged in some artful spending over the past decade.

 

As the WAND News I-TEAM reported last week government watchdog Open The Books has documented more $20 million spent by the VA for art and art consulting.  Those purchases came while the VA has claimed it is short-staffed and needs more money.

 

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, (R) Illinois, says some of those art purchases were at VA facilities in central and southern Illinois.  The Danville VA spent $59,204 on artwork while the Marion VA spent $26,821.

 

Kirk has demanded the VA stop the art purchases immediately.

 

Among the more outrageous purchases were at the VA facility in Palo Alto, California where $6.3 million has been spent on art.  The Minneapolis VA Medical Center spent $242,933; Biloxi, MS $168,467; and the Salem facility $148,482.

 

Congress is expected to address the VA art purchases later this year.