A hot microphone during a bill signing appears to have caught Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka asking the Governor for help getting her son into SIU.

The Chicago Sun-Times (http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/did-hot-mic-pick-topinka-clout-request/wed-07162014-1058am) posted a video from July 7 in Washington, where Governor Pat Quinn was announcing $11.6 million dollars in state funds to help with tornado recovery efforts.

A link to the article is at WJPF.com. It appears Topinka asks Quinn if he can help her son get into SIU so he can become a teacher. She then chants “SIU” three times before patting Quinn on the back.

A spokeswoman for Quinn says he knows Topinka’s son, a veteran, very well, but couldn’t hear all of what Topinka said. A spokesman for Topinka says the conversation was no different than a million others she’s had about her son.