Senate president says to hold off on criticizing Rauner over salaries

CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois’ Senate president says it’s important to understand the context of higher salaries given to a number of new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s top staff.

Democrat John Cullerton says he plans to “wait and see” what the overall budget of Rauner’s office is and “how it’s balanced before we look to criticize.” The Associated Press found annual salaries of 10 top staffers in Rauner’s administration outpace those of comparable aides to former Governor Pat Quinn by roughly $380,000 – or 36 percent.

Rauner says spending inside the governor’s office overall is currently less than under Quinn.
He has criticized spending and worker salaries while the state is in billions of dollars of debt.