Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is paying the hefty salary of his new education secretary from the budget of the state human-services agency, which he targeted for millions of dollars in cuts to programs dealing with autism, epilepsy, and burials for the indigent, according to records the Chicago Sun-Times obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr. Rauner hired former charter school director Beth Purvis at an annual salary of $250,000, making it the highest-paid position in the governor’s Cabinet at the time. Her contract indicates that she will be paid under the human-services department, even while reporting directly to the GOP governor’s office.
Three weeks after the contract was signed, the governor’s office announced that the agency was strapped for cash and called for $26 million in service cuts, which led to some programs shutting down. The cuts eventually were restored, but Gov. Rauner’s proposed budget for fiscal 2016 calls for more cuts within the agency.
