John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network

A new report says the Illinois Department of Public Transportation broke hiring rules for years—including under Gov. Pat Quinn.

Between 2003 and 2013, 250 IDOT workers were hired under the title of staff assistant, which is not subject to rules against politically motivated hiring. Illinois Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza says those workers were then tasked with duties that didn’t fall under that job description. But Meza says it doesn’t appear Quinn himself was pushing for the improper political hires.

“We did not find that Gov. Quinn himself personally recommended anyone that eventually got a job as a staff assistant,” Meza said.

But former IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider claimed to the Chicago Sun-Times that Quinn did push through the “vast majority” of those hires. The number of staff assistants peaked in 2011, after Quinn began his first full term in office.

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