End of January & No Movement at IDOC

The end of January 2011 is upon us and nothing has materialized to support the hopes of those inmates told by IDOC Staff to expect the quick reinstatement of MGT. The IL General Assembly does not return to session until February, but there has been no indication yet that it intends to take any action soon with respect to IDOC issues, including MGT.

The legislators are still tied up with unresolved budget conflicts and the IL Appellate Court isn’t helping any by undoing by it’s rulings even the past laws Quinn got to help out the state budget. The legislature also moved to challenge the employment and legal status of 38 unconfirmed appointees of Governor Quinn’s; including five heading up major state agencies. Naturally, Gladyse Taylor, Quinn’s temporary appointee as IL Director of Corrections (IDOC) is one of those five individuals. The legislature wanted to stop paying her and the others their salaries….

Fortunately for IDOC, and Taylor, Attorney General Lisa Madigan just issued an opinion today to State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, indicating that they should continue to be paid salaries since their nominations each carry “over into the new biennial Senate” as long as 60 days haven’t passed. Quinn is happy that Madigan is supporting his appointees, since he doesn’t need to be fighting that political battle too at this point! There apparently isn’t a particular reason why these appointees weren’t approved before this, but Quinn is still saying that he intends shortly to make final decisions on who is running his agencies, and they should all get appointment hearings quickly anyhow.  See article here from Quad Cities Dispatch online: Attorney general: pay Quinn’s appointees.