Rauner transparency clouded by secret meetings

 

SPRINGFIELD — During his campaign for governor, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he wanted to oversee the most transparent administration in history.

But three months into his term, Rauner's team won't reveal who is involved in a series of high-level talks about some of the governor's most prized pet issues, ranging from his controversial plan to allow local right-to-work laws to an overhaul of state spending.

"They are private meetings," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said late last week. "They are private discussions that we're keeping confidential to protect the process."

Rauner's closed-door approach to governing began emerging last week when he told reporters about the existence of what he called "working groups."

He said the groups of lawmakers and unnamed administration officials were working on various pieces of legislation with an eye on making them public later in the spring legislative session.

"I think there are seven or eight working groups. We hope to get some bills ready to be introduced in the coming few weeks," Rauner said.

Asked  for more specifics about the groups, Kelly said, "We're not confirming what has been discussed or anything like that right now."

Kelly also wouldn't answer questions about who is involved in each group, when they are meeting and what subjects are being discussed.

"We're only saying what the governor has said. That's all I can give you right now," Kelly

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