* As we’ve already discussed, Gov. Rauner signed the comptroller’s “off-shoring” bill this week. From his press release…

Gov. Bruce Rauner today signed legislation to bring greater transparency to state government finances, limiting the use of intergovernmental agreements to end the longtime practice of paying employees from one office out of other State agencies’ appropriated funds. At the same time, the Governor called for the provisions of the legislation to be applicable to the offices of all Constitutional officers.

“Transparent governing has been a hallmark of this administration and I support efforts to challenge status quo policies and practices, particularly those that are perceived to undermine the public’s confidence in their government,” Rauner said.

“Unlike previous administrations, we have been transparent in reporting headcount and salaries of all Governor’s Office employees,” Rauner said, “and our administration is spending less on total agency-wide payroll than the previous administration.”

“The same level of transparent accounting ought to apply to all State Constitutional Offices as a necessity for accomplishing their work for taxpayers,” the Governor said urging the General Assembly to extend the truth-in-budgeting principle to the Offices of the Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer.”

“The taxpayers of Illinois need to know how their money is being spent,” Rauner said. “The state’s constitutional offices have an obligation to be accountable for their spending and this would be a major step toward achieving that goal.”

* Notice how he spends much of the release insisting that other statewide electeds should now be subjected to the same rules? From the comptroller’s spokesman…

We looked into all that and found it was not necessary because no other constitutional office has the authority over another office that the Governor’s office has over its agencies. The Comptroller can’t say to the Attorney General, “Hey, I’m hiring a $150,000-a-year staffer and taking her salary out of your budget.” Or vice-versa. That imbalance of power does not exist elsewhere. The governor can and does do that to all the agencies whose directors he appoints and who therefore are in no position to argue with him. It’s not an issue for any other constitutional office.

That makes sense.

I suppose, say, it’s conceivable that the comptroller might seek an intergovernmental agreement to pay executive salaries in the future out of the State Lottery Fund. The latest omnibus appropriations bill gave her $50,300 from that fund “for expenses in connection with the State Lottery.” But that seems a stretch. The governor’s office would have to approve such an IGA, for one.

* And how transparent has this administration actually been? From 2015…

Gov. Bruce Rauner promised a leaner, more transparent administration than his predecessors, yet he’s rigorously following their time-honored practice of asking other departments to sign paychecks for his staff.

Among employees doing significant work for Rauner, half their combined salaries — about $4 million — comes from separate agency budgets and isn’t listed on his office payroll, according to a review of documents by The Associated Press.

That figure is about $1 million more than Rauner’s staff reported in June during a contentious hearing over use of the strategy before a House committee headed by Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat.

So, the answer is: “Not very.”

* And has he really spent “less on total agency-wide payroll than the previous administration”? From that same article…

Based on a publicly available online directory of governor’s staff, Rauner is asking other agencies to cover about $4 million — more than Quinn, the AP’s analysis found.

* Back to the comptroller’s office…

We count about $5 million in Rauner off-shoring on the current payrolls.

So, the answer is: “No.”

* Meanwhile, it appears that Comptroller Mendoza’s Republican opponent opposed the bill during the spring session…

Interesting concept, but I don’t buy it.

*** UPDATE *** OK, here’s something I didn’t know. The governor’s office just called and pointed to numerous intergovernmental agreements that the administration has with the attorney general’s office.

For example, Revenue has an IGA for seven criminal enforcement tax attorneys. Those lawyers work for and are controlled by the attorney general, not the department.

DHS has an IGA with the attorney general for collections. These are the IGA’s (along with others) that the governor wants addressed in future legislation.

Also, the governor’s office says a state statute requires DCFS to pay for child welfare attorneys general.