Illinois is paying $380,000+ to WHO???

You will NEVER guess whose salary in the Land of Lincoln was over $380,000 last year...Taxpayer dollars are going to this person and I guarantee you have ZERO idea who this person is or what they do...

According to an article from the Illinois State Journal-Register (they are a FANTASTIC news source covering news in Illinois), they published the top-paid state employees, and never before have I been so shocked at what our tax dollars are going to.

In the article, you expect high salaries like the Governor making $226,800, the Secretary of State getting $202,100, or the Lt. Governor getting over $177,000, BUT... Those numbers are SMALL compared to how employees like Rita Pavate are getting paid, according to the article Rita is the highest-paid state employee at $382,500...And what does Rita do? Something called the "Illinois Department of Human Services Physician Specialist"... Ya, your guess is as good as mine as to what that job title means....

According to the Illinois Department of Human Services website,  "The Illinois Department of Human Services was created in 1997 to provide our state's residents with streamlined access to integrated services, especially those who are striving for economic independence, and others who face multiple challenges to self-sufficiency."

Based on that, and Rita's title, I guess that the job Rita holds is the Specialist Doctor for the IDHS... but again that is just my guess, I couldn't find any information about that job on the IDHS website.

In conclusion...

Listen, I'm sure that Rita Pavate is great at the job, and the job is important and difficult. The larger point I am trying to make in this article is that Illinois just had a record-high budget of over $50 Billion, and it is shocking to me that our highest-paid state employee isn't even the Governor, and we are paying someone big salaries to some top state employees when our state is struggling to keep people here and attract new residents.