Illinois' incoming governor has asked the outgoing one to put state hiring on hold for the remainder of his term.
Even as he was being impeached, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich kept making key appointments. A new Dept. of Natural Resources chief; Barack Obama's open U.S. Senate seat.
Gov. Pat Quinn is by no means under that sort of dark cloud.
And Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner says he has no reason to believe Quinn's doing anything inappropriate.
Nevertheless, he's asking Quinn to freeze all appointments - and in fact all state hiring. "Certainly in past transitions we have seen hiring occur, reclassifications occur, and appointments occur at the last minute, that probably were inappropriate or didn't make sense," Rauner said. "We think it's good practice, it's good management practice, not at the tail end of an administration to put in people, friends, affiliates, into positions that are permanent or hard to change when we have a new administration."
But it sounds like Quinn isn't willing to fully comply. In a statement, his office says Quinn had already directed his cabinet to manage their agencies responsibly, to ensure the state's basic operations continue.
Rauner is scheduled to take office Jan. 12.
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