SPRINGFIELD – Even in a tough budget year, Illinois lawmakers can find ways to give special help to a few organizations with the right connections.

A close look at the state budget shows a handful of grants that take money away from general services and divert it to specific groups: $400,000 for a neighborhood development group on Chicago’s South Side, $1.1 million to bus children to religious schools, $750,000 for a commission on Latino families. The list goes on.

Information on how the money will be used is hard to come by. The budget itself doesn’t provide details, the groups getting the money aren’t saying much, and the money is not officially linked to any specific legislator.