Dan Rutherford, the Republican nominee for Secretary of State, has called on Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to take action on, as a press release from his office stated, ‘the illegal hiring practices of Jesse White, who is giving no bid contracts to the spouses of his senior staff.’
According to the release, the wife of Thomas Benigno, White’s chief of staff, was recently awarded a no-bid contract. Illinois law prohibits the spouse of a state employee making 60 percent of the Governor’s salary from being awarded any state contract. The Governor’s salary is $150,691 and 60 percent of that is $90,415; Benigno makes $139,296 annually.
Rutherford sent a letter to Madigan, asking her to take action on the serious violations of the Illinois Procurement Code. He also requested remedy to the violations and the timeline on which such action would be taken. Rutherford also posted information about the violations on White’s new Webcsite (www.ReportItNow.net) to alert Inspector General Jim Burns.