Illinois officials are trying to figure out who has the power to name the state’s next comptroller - and for how long.
That’s after the current comptroller - Judy Baar Topinka - died yesterday after complications from a stroke. Topinka had just won re-election to comptroller last month.
The state constitution says the governor gets to appoint the next comptroller when there’s a vacancy. But since Illinois is about to have a new governor - there are questions about how long outgoing Governor Pat Quinn’s appointment could last - a month - or four years.
The sudden vacancy is also bringing back an old debate - why can’t Illinois combine the offices of its two financial officers - the comptroller and treasurer.
Republican State Representative Noreen Hammond supports merging the offices - but says if they had been combined and there were a sudden death in that office - questions would still be raised.
“That would pose perhaps an even more precarious situation than we’re in right now.”
Topinka had supported combining the two offices. But an effort to change the constitution stalled two years ago.