Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to sign an executive order today that will consolidate the Human Rights Commission with the state’s Department of Human Rights.

The governor says the move will expedite the backlog of more than 1,000 civil rights cases to be investigated by the Human Right Commission.

The average time for the resolution of a case with the commission is more than four years.

The backlog is being blamed on inefficient communication and not enough sharing of resources between the entities.

The governor’s office says the move would save taxpayers half a million dollars, too. But critics say that the two entities are designed to act as checks and balances on each other — the general assembly will have 90 days to approve the move. Similar efforts failed back in 2003.