CHICAGO – It's been three years since Sarah Vega left her position as supervisor of credit unions for the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions to work as director of the state's regulatory agency. But now Vega has been reappointed to her previous position by outgoing Republican Gov. George Ryan as part of a move that guarantees her employment with DFI for four years. Vega, first appointed director by Ryan in 1999, would have lost her job when incoming Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich names his own slate of directors after he takes office. Her new responsibilities as supervisor of credit unions carries with it a four-year term. Vega earned $98,135 a year as DFI director and will earn $98,112 as credit union supervisor. She will report to the new DFI director. Blagojevich becomes Illinois' first Democratic governor in 26 years on Jan. 13, 2003. Patrick Smith, who has been acting credit union supervisor since Vega's promotion, returns to his previous job as an assistant supervisor. Daniel E. Cavanaugh, moving over from governor's budget bureau, will be acting director of DFI for the last days of the Ryan administration. "I'm very excited about this, it allows continuity (in credit union supervision)," Vega told Credit Union Times. She said her appointment to head DFI, and her replacement by an acting director, was made with the understanding that she could return to the credit union division. "Credit unions are something I have a passion for," Vega said. Keith Sias, director of state legislative affairs for the Illinois Credit Union League, said the league was not surprised by the shift. He said of greater concern to the league was whether or not the new governor will retain an independent credit union supervisory agency. In Illinois, credit union and bank supervision are handled by different agencies. The Office of Banks and Real Estate regulates banks and thrifts. "Our objective is to maintain our independent regulatory agency," he said. "We hope (the Blagojevich administration) is going in that direction." Blagojevich has not announced new department heads yet or made other policy commitments. His biggest initial task will be grappling with a budget deficit that could reach $2.5 billion. The ICUL supported Blagojevich in his election bid, and Sias is optimistic about credit union influence with the new administration. Sias noted, too, that he learned from the league's pre-election interview with the then-candidate that the new governor got loans from a credit union to go to law school. The reappointment of Vega to the supervisor's job was part of a controversial move by the outgoing governor. Gov. Ryan last summer won a change in state work rules that shortened the probationary period for term employees from six months to 30 days. He made a number of appointments prior to Dec. 13 that shifted political appointees into protected jobs. Since then, the Ryan administration has been attacked by the powerful Chicago Tribune for failing to make the list of appointees public. A Blagojevich spokesman told the Tribune that reinstating the six-month probationary period will be a priority for the new administration. Vega, a lawyer, first joined the credit union division in 1991, moving over from the Illinois Secretary of State's office. In March 2002, she was appointed to a three-year term as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. She is a former chairman of the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors. -

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