Will County Gazette

Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) believes lawmakers should fire Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino.

“It’s an embarrassment that he’s still in office,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “He shouldn’t have to resign; the legislature has the authority to remove him and that should have already been done. The State of Illinois is the only state in the country that would have a sitting auditor general who’s under federal investigation.”

Mautino is currently under federal investigation for possible campaign finance violations involving his now-defunct campaign committee for state representative. Mautino cited his Fifth Amendment right during the probe, and the Illinois State Board of Elections recently deadlocked on a 4-4 vote down partisan lines on whether to fine him.

Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino

Mautino has faced allegations his campaign spent more than $225,000 at the same local gas station for gas and repairs to vehicles owned by him and close associates. Election laws stipulate that campaign committees are only allowed to reimburse vehicle owners on a per-mile basis for auto use related to the campaign.

Mautino’s committee has also faced fallout over a purported scheme where staffers routinely wrote checks totaling at least $150,000 in the name of a bank, then cashed them from the committee’s checking account. Receipts were rarely kept from any of the transactions and no unused money was ever returned to the campaign.

Batinick, who is seeking re-election in the 97th District against Democrat Mica Freeman, believes Mautino’s actions show that lawmakers are falling short in their obligation to the state.

“Right now, we need leaders in Springfield where when the auditor general is under investigation they have the courage to quickly remove him,” he said. “We need leaders with backbone that are willing to put the welfare of the state ahead of everything else.”