Mysterious, costly contact tracing

What's this contact tracing about, anyway? Did I read the article correctly that Gov. Pritzker is going to spend 80 million nonexisting dollars to implement a contact-tracing program and hire 4,000 new employees to staff it? I realize that we are supposed to all agree with our politicians on all things coronavirus like a herd of sheep, but this doesn't pass the giggle test for me. It must be really important, because everyone is jumping on this bandwagon, from the media, government agencies, even schools to train prospective tracers.

I guess these new employees will be sitting at desks with pencil and paper drawing trees like the ancestry.com computer program or going around with a clipboard and pencil counting all the horses that have left the barn. Let's also not forget that these new workers will also be working toward a pension, something this state is legendary for mismanaging. This sounds to me like a coronavirus version of "shovel-ready jobs," "Cash-For-Clunkers," (remember that one? A $2 billion federal program that cost $5 billion).

This program is going to be implemented by a state that can't get its existing unemployment system working correctly? Their advice to users doing 600 calls per day already is to keep calling.

Perhaps I should apply for a position in this program. I understand there is no experience necessary and I can use a pencil as well as the next person. I could also use my newfound pension dollars to help pay for my newfound tax increases.

George Kujanski

Palatine