Former Illinois Department of Transportation workers whose jobs were eliminated in an anti-patronage effort launched by Gov. Bruce Rauner early in his term sued his administration to get their jobs back in Illinois federal court.

When the last of the employees hired under former Gov. Pat Quinn were laid off in September of 2016, Rauner called hailed the elimination of their positions as a victory for transparent government. During the campaign, Rauner frequently criticized his opponent for the continuation of political hiring practices at IDOT during the 2014 gubernatorial contest.

Many of the hundreds of “staff assistants” who lost their jobs during the Rauner purge had been hired under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but Rauner’s efforts reclassified these “Rutan-exempt” political jobs as “Rutan-covered,” meaning they had to be awarded based on merit.

The 18-page complaint, filed in the Central District of Illinois, alleges the employees should not have been reassigned to different jobs, and that the move was motivated by political reasons in violation of the workers’ First Amendment rights.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, noted union lawyer Don Craven, wrote in the suit that the Rauner administration’s assertion that the employees were laid off because of a lack of work was a “pretense.”

“Each plaintiff was fully engaged in the work and mission of IDOT, each plaintiff had a series of projects in line to complete, and each was constantly being given new assignments to complete,” according to the complaint.

The suit said the “real reason” for the workers’ terminations “was that they were were employed by the prior administration (under then Governor Patrick Quinn who was a member of the Democratic Party) of that they refused to become affiliated with the Rauner Administration.”

The employees demanded an unspecified amount of compensation and asked the court for a permanent injunction prohibiting Rauner from removing plaintiffs from their employment.

Additionally, the workers asked they be reinstated to their old jobs “with full restoration of seniority, credit for continuous service and restoration of all pension, insurance or other benefits of employment.”

Illinois pocketed $422 million in state and local sales taxes from video gaming terminals in FY 2018, according to a report out Thursday from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

Illinois’ 29,283 terminals made a net $1.4 billion in income last year, the sixth year that video gambling was legal in the state, according to the report.

However, the report found the growth of video gaming terminals has slowed in recent years. In FY 2015, for example, Illinois added an average of 272 new terminals per month. That figure dropped to 263 per month in FY 2016 and to 249 in FY 2017. In FY 2018, the average number of new terminals per month was just 201.

The slowed growth isn’t necessarily a reason for alarm, COGFA senior revenue analyst Eric Noggle wrote.

“Despite the slower pace of new terminals, the continued increase in new video gaming terminals suggests that this industry has yet to reach its peak,” Noggle wrote.

The thousands of video gaming terminals in Illinois are located in more than 7,000 establishments statewide, including Springfield, which boasts 630 terminals, the highest number of terminals of any city by far. Video gaming is still prohibited within Chicago city limits. Rockford, Decatur, Joliet and unincorporated areas of Lake County also are home to hundreds of terminals. But the number of terminals don’t tell the whole story.

“In terms of tax revenues generated from video gaming machines, Rockford generated the most in FY 2018, followed by Springfield, Decatur, Waukegan and Loves Park,” according to the report.

Video gaming was sold as a cash cow to lawmakers in the last major gambling expansion bill passed in Springfield in 2012. Revenue from the terminals is taxed at 30 percent, with five-sixths of the taxes going toward the Capital Projects Fund and the remaining one-sixth funneled to the local governments in which the video gaming machines are located.

The 2012 law capped the number of video gaming terminals any one establishment can have at five, though a bill pushed by State Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) would increase that number to six, along with expand gambling in various other forms across the state.

Despite the prohibition on video gaming terminals within Chicago, COGFA’s report said Cook County “still had, by far, the most video gaming terminals of any county” in Illinois last year with 5,071 terminals. Cook County also generated the most revenue of any other county, netting $298.6 million last year. But even with the large number of terminals in the suburban part of the county, Cook County ranked 97 of Illinois’ 102 counties in terms of net terminal income per capita.

The local share of taxes from the video game terminals have also been a boon for cities and towns. The portion of taxes collected that go to municipalities jumped from $6.1 million in 2013 to $70.3 million last year. That figure has steadily risen by about $10 million in each of the last four years.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed two bills designed to speed up the process for which patients are approved for Medicaid long-term care. Later, the governor signed a bill that undoes an 84-year-old liquor law.

A half-dozen Illinois Democrats received the endorsement of former President Barack Obama on Wednesday, including the candidate who took over Obama’s former seat in the Illinois State Senate 14 years ago. Meanwhile, the state is set to spend $14 million on election security measures, but some local election authorities want access to the discretionary money sooner rather than later.

The sudden resignation of Republican Nick Sauer (R-Lake Barrington) from the Illinois House on Tuesday creates yet another headache for GOP officials in the northern suburbs.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday signed legislation pushed by frequent Democratic critic Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who had made the “offshoring” bill one of her top priorities this past legislative session.

Lawmakers will take another shot at green lighting a massive expansion of gambling in Illinois, while state workers demanded that officials do more to stop a bed bug infestation at a Chicago facility. Meanwhile, JB Pritzker hits the airwaves with an ad designed to use humor to defuse one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s most frequent attacks.

Six of Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress sent Gov. Bruce Rauner a letter Tuesday admonishing him for vetoing a bill that would have halted Illinois’ participation in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck System, a controversial effort aimed at flagging duplicate voter registrations in multiple states.

Democrats are urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign a bill that would expand the Illinois Human Rights Act to include employers with fewer than 15 employees in the law’s anti-discrimination language.

Conservative Party gubernatorial candidate State. Sen. Sam McCann will share an endorsement the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 in the race for governor with Democrat JB Pritzker. Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner gave the state GOP $85,000 and signed a bill that raises funds for police memorial scholarships and protective gear from scratch-off lottery tickets.