SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s new deputy governor is scheduled to receive half of her pay out of an employee health care account that is more than $4 billion behind on its bills due to the state’s budget crisis, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The other half of Republican Leslie Munger’s $138,000 salary is slated to be taken from money used to pay Medicaid providers and prescription drug costs, according to letters from Rauner’s fiscal operations director in late February to the comptroller’s payroll department.
Munger, Rauner’s hand-picked choice to fill a vacancy in the comptroller’s office in 2015, landed the position with her political ally after losing a special election. Premiums from state employees feed the group health insurance account. The other fund, administered by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, is money collected from overpayments due to fraud or error. It’s used to pay costs under the federal-state Medicaid program.
Munger did not return a message left by the AP at her office. Catherine Kelly, spokeswoman for Rauner, noted that Munger has not yet received a paycheck in her new job.
“When she is paid, it will not impact state employee health insurance payments or service providers,” Kelly said but declined to elaborate.