East Central Reporter

After learning Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been personally paying his staff members on top of their state salaries, Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) wrote a bill to prevent such an arrangement.

“Pretty audacious that it is even happening, but on top of that, the complete lack of transparency on the issue is what really caught my attention as well,” Plummer said, according to the Center Square.

The Center Square reported Pritzker has been doing this since taking office.

“It is amazing that this is happening,” Plummer wrote on Facebook. “Even more amazing, few people in media seem to think it is an issue.”

In a February Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, lawmakers learned that the 15 top staff in Pritzker’s office share nearly $3.2 million in pay, around $1.6 million from taxpayers, and around $1.5 million from Pritzker’s wealth.

Pritzker Chief of Staff Anne Caprara defended the governor’s actions.

“His priorities are retaining and attracting the best possible people to work for state government and to work for his office personally,” Caprara said in the Center Square.

Senate Bill 2213 was introduced by Plummer on Feb. 26, 2021. The bill would keep state employees from receiving compensation of any kind (money or otherwise) from private parties for work performed as a state agency employee.

Plummer claimed there’s little known about the money.

“Can anyone say, ‘conflict of interest?’” Plummer wrote on Facebook. “We don't know the full extent of these payments. We know very little about this arrangement.”

Pritzker, who ranked 318th on Forbes’ 400 richest people in America list in 2021 with a net worth of $3.6 billion, is heir to the Hyatt Hotel chain.

“Are they doubling the salary? Is this a bonus for getting legislation passed? [That] would be of extreme concern, basically, that’s pay for performance when it comes to governance and that would be highly unethical,” former Rep. Grant Wehrli said to Illinois Policy.