* Tribune…
In an eleventh-hour flurry Monday in Chicago, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a few final bills into law, appointed friends to ceremonial posts and laid a series of political traps for incoming Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Quinn also maintained his pace of working through a large backlog of clemency petitions. But his swipes at Rauner with several executive orders on the rookie governor’s first day overshadowed the other actions — and showed just how sore Quinn remains from the bruising 2014 campaign.
Quinn, who waged a class warfare theme in his failed re-election bid, took direct aim at the refusal of the wealthy private equity executive to release his full set of income tax returns during their race. Quinn issued an executive order requiring governors to make available for public inspection individual income tax returns on or before May 1 each year.
He also issued an order to require state contractors pay at least $10 an hour — a nod to his failed quest to raise the statewide minimum wage.
The executive order is here.
* Sun-Times…
On Monday, some actions appeared directly tied to a bitter loss to his political rival.
One of Quinn’s executive orders would force future governors to make public all tax information, including supporting documents and schedules. That was an issue in the campaign as Quinn attempted to portray Rauner, a wealthy venture capitalist, as a bloodless multimillionaire who was hiding possible conflicts of interest. Rauner refused to release accompanying schedules showing details at how he paid his taxes.
As governor, Rauner would have the power to undo the order; however, it could bring political blowback and raise transparency questions.
That executive order is here.
* Rauner, however, rescinded two of Quinn’s appointments from yesterday. James Anderson’s appointment to the Civil Service Commission and former state Rep. Kim dd Buclet’s appointment to the Chicago State University Board were both withdrawn today.
…Adding… Rauner is rescinding all of Quinn’s appointments that require Senate confirmation.
