Rauner moves to dump 29 political hires from Blagojevich, Quinn eras

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration on Thursday sent layoff notices to 29 workers at the Illinois Department of Transportation who held controversial patronage positions, a move the governor's office said is aimed at ridding the agency of political hires made under Democratic predecessors.

Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly confirmed the layoff notices went out to employees classified as "staff assistants," a special position created to hire hundreds of people without having to go through strict personnel procedures designed to keep politics out of most state hiring.

The patronage hires were the subject of a scathing report the state's top ethics investigator issued in 2014. The probe found the lax rules had been in place since before ex-Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office in 2003, but determined that such hiring escalated under former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's administration.

"The duration and pervasiveness of IDOT's improper acts have undoubtedly denied countless qualified candidates the opportunity to lawfully obtain state employment on the basis of merit," the report stated.

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