SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The wife of Gov. Bruce Rauner is getting her own $100,000-a-year chief of staff amid a state budget impasse.

Diana Rauner has hired Emily Bastedo, former associate counsel for the Bruce Rauner administration, to act as a surrogate in meetings and to help oversee the next phase of the executive mansion restoration project.

In her role as associate counsel general,  Bastedo served as the legal liaison to 10 state agencies, boards and commissions.

The governor’s office announced Bastedo’s appointment on Friday. Her salary will be $100,000, the same as her predecessor.

The move comes amid a months-long budget impasse in Springfield, which has forced some social-service agencies to undergo drastic cuts.

One agency feeling negative effects from the state’s budget stalemate serves at-risk kids in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.

Children’s Home and Aid works to keep youngsters out of the juvenile justice and foster care systems.

The agency says in less than three weeks it will have to shut down its crisis intervention program for teen runaways.

Illinois has gone seven months without a state budget. Governor Rauner is preparing for his State of the State speech, which will take place on Wednesday.

The Associated Press and Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.