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Rauner administration forced to admit another payroll “error”

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Illinois

* Associated Press on March 9th…

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration had arranged to pay a new deputy governor out of an employee health care account that is more than $4 billion behind on its bills due to the state’s budget crisis, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

After the AP reported Thursday that half of Leslie Munger’s $138,000 salary was scheduled to come from a pool of insurance premiums, a spokeswoman for the governor said an agency “mistakenly” designated the wrong fund and that Munger’s pay would come from elsewhere.

Munger, Rauner’s hand-picked choice to fill a vacancy in the comptroller’s office in 2015, landed the position with her political ally after losing a special election.

* Bernie today…

A state legislator is taking issue with Gov. BRUCE RAUNER hiring a “digital director” for $125,000 a year, with the salary, according to state records, coming from the mental health budget.

But PATTY SCHUH, spokeswoman for the governor, said this week that while governor’s employees’ works benefits all agencies, it was not intended that JAMES VETRANO be coded under a mental health line in the Department of Human Services, and he would be moved to a more appropriate designation, possibly outside that agency budget. […]

State Rep. GREG HARRIS, D-Chicago, chairs the appropriations committee that oversees human services spending, and noted that the Rauner administration recently announced cuts to human services.

“And now, they found hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay a guy to post pictures on his social media?” Harris said. “How many pictures to we need to see of him riding around on his motorcycle? … We should be investing more into community services and less on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.”

The governor’s previous director of digital communications, BRIDGET SHANAHAN DAVIDSON, who is now director of media relations for the Illinois Education Association, was paid $80,000 annually and worked for the state from October 2016 to July. Her Linked In profile says she “produced social media campaigns and created content to engage followers and grow reach while successfully generating several earned media stories.” She produced Facebook Live events, managed a graphic designer, video editor and production crew, a still photographer and web redesign team – as well as managing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, “expanding engagement on all platforms.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:16 am

Comments

===A state legislator is taking issue with Gov. BRUCE RAUNER hiring a “digital director” for $125,000 a year, with the salary, according to state records, coming from the mental health budget.===

Rauner vetoed the entire budget, including the monies to operate his agencies.

Those agencies deal with necessary policy, and implementing policies, like mental health.

Rauner vetoed that. Rauner refuses to fund agencies and the policies he (Rauner) may believe need to be done for a better illinois.

But…

… putting a digital director, to have phony pictures to show “activity”, not achievement, on the payroll with the pool of monies designated for mental health…

Social service providers…

“Both sides”

…

Amirite?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:23 am
More superstars at work.

Comment by Sparky791 Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:23 am
Why aren’t all of the Governor’s staff paid out of the Governor’s Office budget? Why is anyone working in the Gov’s office, in any capacity, paid via another agency’s paycodes? I know this is a long standing practice, but I’ve never understood it. How and when did this start?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:32 am
‘But PATTY SCHUH, spokeswoman for the governor, said this week that while governor’s employees’ works benefits all agencies, it was not intended for anyone to notice that JAMES VETRANO had been coded under a mental health line in the Department of Human Services, and he would be moved to a more appropriate designation, possibly outside that agency budget.”

There. fixed it.

Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:33 am
So Rauner hired Jimmy Vetrano at 125,000 to replace Bridget at 80,000? I thought the thing for gender wage discrimination was to pay women at 75 cents on the dollar you pay men, but this means he was only paying Bridget 64 cents on the dollar?!

No shocker that a boss like Rauner would veto bills to protect women workers from pay discrimination when you see hires like this.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:33 am
That my friends is how a fiscal conservative is supposed to act.

Comment by blue dog dem Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:33 am
Oopsie. That’s what happens when you ghost Governor’s Office employees on to agency budgets.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:33 am
== I know this is a long standing practice, but I’ve never understood it. ==

When you pad it up with political hacks, the Governor’s Office costs a lot more to run than the GA budgets. It’s a way (a) to hide patronage hires and (b) hide the true cost of the Governor’s Office.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:36 am
With the increased reporting by agencies of their outstanding bills, maybe this shell game will stop being “profitable” for Rauner. He vetoes the entire state budget because there’s not enough money, but he’s more than happy to “raid” other agency budgets to pay for his “superstars”. I guess that’s his idea of implementing “job growth” for Illinois.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:39 am
RNUG. C’mon man . Don’t ruin my day. Repubs don’t do patronage hiring, do they? Next thing you’ll be telling me Santa Claus…..

Comment by blue dog dem Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:41 am
The ILGOP flipped out when Mendoza spent 32K on an SUV. I wonder how they’ll react when they find out Bruce spent 263K with money he didn’t have?

Comment by Jocko Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:43 am
Wait, IEA hired a Rauner staffer? Umm, what?

Comment by Hold the phone Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:51 am
Vetrano and Munger are three dollar bills.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:52 am
This really chaps my astronaut.

Comment by Dome Gnome Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:52 am
===The ILGOP flipped out when Mendoza spent 32K on an SUV. I wonder how they’ll react when they find out Bruce spent 263K with money he didn’t have?===

1) Rauner owns the ILGOP brand. No one will say “boo” beyond “shock”, and even that will be phony.

2) Dems are ridiculously slow and ineffective at making hay or making noise like the SUV noise the Raunerite Party did.

Kudos to Rep. Greg Harris, and SJ-R for covering it, but Raunerites know… they know… Rich Miller, other outlets will cover it for a day… but that’s it.

No heat will be felt by Raunerites, or social service providers for that matter, beyond “today”

You’d think that Rauner vetoing the funding for state agencies by Rauner and the bipartisan override to fund something like mental health, this type of brazen picking of monies so Rauner can have a “picture page” person would cause more of a stir and make Dems and social service providers ammunition to continue the fight against Raunerism…

… but it won’t. Today, maybe tomorrow (if I’m generous), then it’ll pass.

I know this… “because history”

That, and “both sides”

I will look forward to the pages of pictures, that’ll be fun… and the silence of what happened too.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:53 am
Ok LP. Support Rauner on this one.

Comment by Generic Drone Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:53 am
So is there any way of identifying those “superstars” and political hires that are on the payroll of other agencies or departments?

And exactly how many report directly to to the Executive Branch?

Comment by illini Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:54 am
== Repubs don’t do patronage hiring, do they? Next thing you’ll be telling me Santa Claus…..==

No, but at a certain level they just hire semi-qualified campaign contributors from the old boy / old girl school alumni network. Or the spouses / significant others of politicans.

Disclosure: I was never a ghost but I knew a number of them.

As to Santa, …

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:56 am
I feel better.

Comment by blue dog dem Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:59 am
===they just hire semi-qualified campaign contributors from the old boy / old girl school alumni network. Or the spouses / significant others of politicans.===

You just defined patronage hiring. So…

Comment by PJ Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:02 am
If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts and comments here and campaigns against him. The play-by-play is just sports; we have to be happy when Aaron Rodgers throws an interception, and that’s all this is.

Comment by Chris Widger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:07 am
===If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts and comments here and campaigns against him.===

If you’re going to play the “Rauner victim card”, what would’ve been perfectly?

Rauner vetoing his agencies’ budgets?

Think on that.

===The play-by-play is just sports; we have to be happy when Aaron Rodgers throws an interception, and that’s all this is.===

So… “whadda gonna do”?

Rauner was suppose to bring back and shake up.

Rauner is the status quo, and is doing so by destroying abs refusing to fund.

But… Rauner is the victim here… “nothing to see… play by play”

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:11 am
Great Spin Job
Perhaps GovJunk needs a person to put his hires into the right payroll spot on day 1?

Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:17 am
Chris Widger- Scroll down to the bottom of this page and check out whose name is listed- https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/itap/Pages/default.aspx

From the Sun-Times- “Asked whether that meant the Debt Transparency Act wasn’t on the same level of priority as other vetoes, the governor reiterated that his priorities ‘held’.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/rauner-calls-transparency-bill-political-manipulation-angering-gop/

Rauner simply wants his own version of “opaque” transparency. That is what we are calling him out on. Perfection from Rauner… no. To stop obfuscating and lying… yes.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:17 am
===If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts===

Another victim heard from.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:19 am
==== - Chris Widger - Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:07 am:

If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts and comments here and campaigns against him. The play-by-play is just sports; we have to be happy when Aaron Rodgers throws an interception, and that’s all this is. =====

Yeah, but he hasn’t done ANYTHING perfectly. What’s your point? Is is not ok to point out when an elected Governor has acted unethically (my opinion)? Should I just close my eyes and pretend that these actions by MY Governor are completely hypocritical? Are we to remain silent about it?

George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich were “less than perfect” too. Just sayin’.

Comment by Try-4-Truth Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:24 am
If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, we would have had proper budgets the last two years, we would have had a functioning government with a growing economy, we would have had less finger-pointing and actual responsibility when the inevitable bad thing happens, we would have properly funded social services and higher education, we would have had K-12 schools provided with the money they need to operate, we would have had compromise at the state house, we would have had bonds not teetering at junk status. Honestly, you don’t even have to be perfect to accomplish that list; you just have to do your job.

Comment by Steve Rogers Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:40 am
–Why aren’t all of the Governor’s staff paid out of the Governor’s Office budget? –

The obvious reasons.

To hide those who are primarily political operatives with ill-defined governmental functions, and make it look like the governor is running a lean, tight operation.

Rauner is as traditional an Illinois politician as they come: A self-described “reformer” with ghost payrollers, hinky clouted leases, pinstripe patronage, hidden invoices…. the whole schmear.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:55 am
“If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts and comments here”

• If Rauner’s many errors are unimportant because maybe some people probably wouldn’t like him even if he didn’t make any errors, and
• If, by extention, your argument’s logical errors are unimportant because maybe people probably wouldn’t agree with your argument even if it weren’t fundamentally illogical, therefore
• Great argument, bro.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:03 am
===If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts===

Trying to earn the Delicate Daisy patch for your biker vest?

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:05 am
For a few months Leslie Munger was getting paid from fund 0421 - Public Aid Recoveries Trust. I am pretty sure that fund wasn’t established to pay the Governor’s staff.

Comment by A Jack Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:27 am
I don’t care if Governor Junk is Republican, Raunerite, Democrat, Progressive, Liberal Conservative or anything else.

He is a terrible governor and much evidence suggests he is not a very good person.

Comment by don the legend Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:28 am
How does Rauner retain his “fiscal conservative” and “social progressive” and “transparent government” credentials when he replaces a woman with a man, pays the man 56% more, and hides the salary? C’mon Dems, the ads write themselves…

Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:42 am
A moment of nostalgia…Adlai Stevenson Governor in the 50’s.
A billion years ago.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 11:46 am
How does all of this jibe with his “robot” that is running right now? A smart person would run this in place of all of his reformin’ claims.

Seems like he isn’t true to his commercials.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:17 pm
The states safety net is broken and we’re pulling money from mental health to pay a digital director. This sounds not only unethical but criminal. He should pay that person out of his billions. Our state is morally bankrupt.

Comment by Flynn's mom Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:22 pm
===If Rauner and his administration did things perfectly, there would still be anti-Rauner posts===

Nah. There have been and are Republicans that Democrats respect and like, and don’t heavily criticize–Jim Edgar, Judy Baar Topinka. This has more to do with Rauner being completely inept at governing.

Comment by Anon12345 Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:25 pm
–“The Rauner administration has brought greater transparency to the office of the governor, ensuring all governor’s office employees are reflected in the headcount, unlike the previous administration,” Schuh said–

“Dep. Gov.” Munger is listed as a CMS - IGA 3 - CONTRACTUAL.

“Deputy Chief of Staff” Lucci is paid out of the ISP payroll.

Former “Secretary of Education” Purvis was a contract worker at DHS.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 12:36 pm
“Delicate daisy patch…” I can’t stop laughing.

Comment by Casual observer Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 1:03 pm
–Why aren’t all of the Governor’s staff paid out of the Governor’s Office budget? –

The obvious reasons.

To hide those who are primarily political operatives with ill-defined governmental functions, and make it look like the governor is running a lean, tight operation.-

I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. I think the majority of political operatives are kept on the Gov’s Office payroll and more of the program folks are put on agency payrolls. This is a longstanding tradition I don’t agree with but I recall Edgar being very concerned that he would not increase spending in the Governor’s Office and farming our staff to agency payrolls because he didn’t want to be criticized for increasing spending in the Governor’s when he was running for re-election.

Comment by regnaD kciN Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 1:23 pm
== I recall Edgar ==

It didn’t start with Edgar; I recall Thompson also doing it.

it may have happened under Walker or Olgivie also … but I was just a peon then, so I didn’t know those players.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 1:34 pm
I agree with regnaD. Can’t speak for what Rauner is doing, but back in my day, ca. JRT, (when the Gov’s office authorized headcount was quite a bit lower than today) a Deputy Gov, for example, never would have been on an agency payroll. More likely, a program staffer for human services may have been off-shored to DCFS or DoC. The one thing that never changes, though, as far as I can see, is that CMS always gets a few, no matter who is the Gov. Right, RNUG?

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 1:36 pm
I don’t think this is as unethical as paying salaries out of capital budgets. Heck, we now have an agency that did not use there millions on capital correctly year after year after year and now they are asking the public to sponsor and pay for arenas and barns.

If they used the capital only for capital, they would have zero issues with any facility.

Comment by IMissBentohs Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 2:34 pm
-AA-, yeah, there were always some at CMS … more than a few sometimes.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 3:55 pm
-”Deputy Chief of Staff” Lucci is paid out of the ISP payroll”-

word, dollar to a donut the Looch asked for a badge, if not a piece and a squad car.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 4:19 pm
–word, dollar to a donut the Looch asked for a badge, –

Yikes, would that be kosher? There must be some minimal training required, I hope. Not like those old Elrod Sheriff’s badges.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 4:22 pm
== Yikes, would that be kosher? ==

Yeah. I knew someone (now retired) who was a civilian ISP executive that asked to be a sworn officer. Next thing you know … actually ended up a good thing because of some of the sensitive investigations they were pulled in to.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 5:05 pm
word and RNUG, it’s generally not kosher, which is a good thing. The ISP Director has the authority to swear in civilian ISP employees as “Inspectors,” such as for high ranking civilians, cops who came in from outside the ISP (not road Troopers) or crime scene personnel who were not previously ISP. Don’t think the Looch checks any of those boxes.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 5:14 pm
Wonder if all their kids still get four years free education at U of I.

Comment by cc Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 6:04 pm
And how much will the people he manages be paid? Doubt he’ll be doing any graphic designing.

Comment by ugh Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 7:45 pm
–A state legislator is taking issue with Gov. BRUCE RAUNER hiring a “digital director” for $125,000 a year, with the salary, according to state records, coming from the mental health budget.–

This is simply a campaign operative on the public payroll.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 7:56 pm
Rauner a stone phony can’t see that by now your all dummies

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 8:43 pm
Rauner a stone phony can’t see that by now your all dummies

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 8:43 pm
What difference does one more error by Rauner make?

Comment by skeptic Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 9:16 pm
I think Pritzker made a promise he wont do this sort of thing

Comment by Blue dog dem Wednesday, Nov 8, 17 @ 10:03 pm
if the shoe fits wear it

Comment by Rabid Thursday, Nov 9, 17 @ 2:56 am
mistakes were made

Comment by Rabid Thursday, Nov 9, 17 @ 3:29 am