By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News
Governor Bruce Rauner signed Executive Order 15-16 yesterday to remove a layer of government bureaucracy in hiring civil-service positions and to protect the hiring process from unlawful political influence.
Governor Rauner requested Illinois Central Management Services and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget to review this system and they recommended it be discontinued. Agencies will be subject to budget and headcount limits, but will be allowed to fill positions according to the applicable personnel rules and collective-bargaining agreements.
Executive Order 15-16 also requires all employment and personal services contracts going forward to allow the State to terminate the contract without penalty.
In other news, former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock has spent more $1 million out of his campaign fund on lawyers—and yes, that’s legal.
The latest Federal Election Commission filing show Schock has taken out more than $1 million in legal fees in the past three months as a federal grand jury looks at his campaign spending.
Kent Redfield, political science professor at University of Illinois Springfield, explains Schock can spend campaign cash on his defense since it’s related to his conduct as an elected official. If it wasn’t, that would be a different story.
Despite resigning from office, Schock is still reporting fundraising-related expenses to his campaign fund, including more than $22,000 on renting event space in Aspen, Colo.
Redfield says that’s unusual, but unless the fund is ordered to be closed, he expects Schock will slowly spend the money down. Schock has $2.1 million left in his campaign fund.
