Mussman Co-Sponsors Bill Forcing Governor to Quit Payroll Offshoring

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is backing an effort to prohibit Governor Bruce Rauner and all future governors from paying their office’s employees with funds intended for separate purposes, such as economic development, public safety and child protection.

“Residents are tired of politicians who find ways to work around the system instead of fixing the system,” said Mussman. “Both political parties have been guilty of pulling stunts like this, but that does not make it acceptable to repeat this sort of misleading behavior.”

The Mussman-backed House Bill 5121 would require every employee who works in the governor’s office to be paid from the governor’s payroll. Their salary will be taken out of the appropriated governor’s budget, not from state agencies and funds intended for a separate, unrelated purpose.

The most recent payroll data from the comptroller shows that only 44 of the 102 employees in Rauner’s office are paid from the governor’s budget. The rest are hidden in other agencies’ payrolls. If the governor were to accurately report all the people working in his office, he would have to disclose his office budget is more than $10 million, instead of the $4.9 million allocated for the current fiscal year.

“This measure will help cut red tape by getting more resources to the people and agencies that they were intended to go to in the first place,” said Mussman. “With the limited resources the state currently has on hand, the governor’s office needs to do a better job of living within their means.”

For more information, please contact Mussman’s full-time constituent service office by calling 847-923-9104 or by emailing StateRepMussman@gmail.com.