Gov. Rauner Reverses Quinn’s Last Executive Orders, Including Mandate That Rauner Release Tax Info

Much of what Pat Quinn did in his final hours as Illinois' governor has been undone. Gov. Bruce Rauner immediately withdrew Quinn's 100 last-minute appointments to state boards and commissions. And on Friday evening, he rescinded Quinn's last executive orders.

It's been said that when Quinn issued his final set of executive orders, he was also laying a booby trap for the man taking his spot.

One order required the state pay contractors $10, the amount Quinn had tried to make Illinois' minimum wage -- a topic over which Rauner stumbled during the campaign.

Another mandated future governors release all of their income tax returns; Rauner, whose wealth is projected to be around $500 million, refused to make his public.

Rauner had hinted earlier in the week what was coming:

"I won't comment on specific things, my bias is to take action to undo pretty much everything that Gov. Quinn did since the election," he said. "'Cause every time we look, most of it's bad. I just...we'll deal with that in due course." 

That turned out to be Friday evening; the classic time politicians drop news they'd rather stay buried.

In his own executive order undoing Quinns', Rauner wrote that Quinn's orders "were not wholly motivated by serving in the public's interest."

Of course, one could say the same thing about what Rauner did.

And actually, someone did. Quinn told the Chicago Tribune that Rauner's action was "self-serving and anti-reform and he ought to be ashamed of himself."