The Illinois Secretary of State announced that the lobbyist affirmation statement for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2012 is due on August 4, 2012.

For this report, the lobbyists will have to affirm its employers’ reports are accurate as they pertain to the itemized expenditures.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ethics reform amendment to the city council on June 8. The amendment, based on the recommendations given to him by the Ethics Reform Task Force, would strengthen the gift ban, add a reverse revolving door provision, and increase the penalties for PACs who accept illegal contributions. The amendment also includes a code of conduct for city officials and employees, which is something the city has never had before.

The city council will now decide the fate of the mayor’s initiatives. The Ethics Reform Task Force will release its second set of recommendations in late July, this time focusing on the relationship between, and the key responsibilities of, the city’s ethics institutions.

Photo of Chicago skyline by mindfrieze on Wikipedia. 

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its legislative session early Friday morning, but not before both houses approved a bill aimed at curtailing super PAC influence in state elections.

Senate Bill 3722 would eliminate the campaign contribution limits in any races in which a natural person or independent expenditure committee makes independent expenditures for the benefit of the campaign of a particular public official or candidate in an aggregate amount, during an election cycle, of more than $250,000 for statewide office or $100,000 for all other elective offices.

Therefore, if a PAC spends more than $250,000 in independent expenditures during an election cycle for a candidate for governor, then there will be no contribution limits for any of the gubernatorial candidates. The bill will now go to Governor Pat Quinn’s desk to await his signature or veto.

Even though the Legislature has adjourned, Governor Quinn announced that he will continue to work on an overhaul of the state’s pension system with leaders from both sides of the aisle. Once they come to an agreement on a bipartisan bill, Governor Quinn said he would call both houses back for a special session during the summer.

Also, the typical legislative schedule will have the legislators reporting back to Springfield in November for a session to deal with any bills that Governor Quinn decides to veto.

Photo of the Illinois Capitol Building courtesy of Martin Davis on Wikipedia.

The Chicago Board of Ethics rolled out a new electronic lobbyist registration system on May 1, 2012. Lobbyists can now register online on the Electronic Lobbyist Filing System page.

Electronic registration is voluntary, so lobbyists may still file paper registrations if they choose to do so. For lobbyists who are already registered, they can use the online system to add clients to their registration forms. Registered lobbyists should contact the board of ethics if they need their login information.

National: Ethics-violations-as-campaign-tool in “Ethics Talking Points Take Campaign Stage” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

Illinois: “No law stops indicted IL politico from seeking re-election” by Andrew Thomason in the Illinois Statehouse News.

Louisiana: “Watchdog group hopes to shine up Louisiana ethics laws” by Jeff Adelson in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Here is my personal favorite today: They have taken a poll in New Jersey and found that people there are tired of the cursing and name calling among their politicians. Take a look at “Jerks, snobs and …? N.J. voters are fed up with the nasty names” by Matt Friedman in The Star-Ledger. Here is another article offering good coverage – “NJ voters want less name-calling from politicians” by Michael Symons in the Asbury Park Press.

Federal

“Generation X joining K Street” by Jonathan Allen and Jennifer Martinez in Politico.

“Administration Staffers Head Out the Revolving Door” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

In the States

Illinois: “Illinois Senate panel blocks lobbyist ethics legislation” by Shannon McFarland (Associated Press) in the Jacksonville Journal Courier.

Illinois: “Lobbying reforms buried in subcommittee” by Rick Miller in Capitol Fax.

Iowa: “Iowa’s lobbying free-for-all” by Jason Clayworth and Jeffrey Kummer in the Des Moines Register.

Massachusetts: “AP: Mass. health care 5-year lobbying topped $51M” by Steve LeBlanc (Associated Press) in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Minnesota:  “$61M spent on lobbying in 2011” by Matt Herbert in Minnesota Daily.

For full news coverage, read:

“Indicted Illinois House member wins Dem nomination” by John O’Connor (Associated Press) in The State Journal-Register.

“Chicago lawmaker charged in bribe case wins primary” by Andrew Stern (Reuters) in the Chicago Tribune.

ᔥ Thanks go to Jim Sedor, Editor of News You Can Use, for finding this article.

ᔥPhoto courtesy of the Illinois General Assembly website.

If you don’t file your campaign finance paperwork in Illinois, you will receive a fine from the State Board of Elections. Take a look at “Political committees owe Illinois $800,000 in fines” by Andrew Thomason in the McDonough Voice.

As the article notes, there is no criminal penalty involved, but candidates could find out they are not eligible to run for elected office if they don’t take care of the fines.

According to the article:

The Illinois State Board of Elections, or ISBE, has 553 outstanding fines totaling $808,235.15 against political committees for either filing campaign finance reports late or violating Illinois’ campaign finance laws. Fines date back to 2003 and range from $25 to $10,000.

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Aspen has removed limits on political contributions to groups that make independent expenditures on behalf of or against a candidate.

The decision in Personal Pac v. McGuffage specifically overturns the annual limits of $10,000 per individual, $20,000 per corporation or union, and $50,000 from a political action committee to an independent expenditure committee.

Noting the U.S. Supreme Court struck down such limits in the Citizens United case, Judge Aspen concluded that preventing actual and apparent corruption cannot justify restrictions on independent expenditures.

“Super-PAC craze sweeps the nation” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.

“Feds Add Charge to Former Detroit Mayor Corruption Case” by The Associated Press on Governing.

“Chicago most corrupt city, report shows” by MJ Lee on Politico.

“Group fighting campaign finance laws in 3 courts ask federal judge to undo contribution limits” by Matt Gouras (Associated Press) in The Republic.

Personal PAC, an abortion rights group, has filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down the limit on the amount of money given by donors to PACs.

Presently, the limit is set at $10,000 per election cycle.

Personal PAC is seeking an immediate and permanent injunction which would allow donors to make unlimited contributions to PACs.

The Illinois State Board of Elections will be relocating its Springfield office beginning Friday, February 10, 2012.

The new address is 2329 S MacArthur Boulevard, Springfield, Illinois, 62704-4503.

All other contact information remains the same.

The Illinois Secretary of State has announced that the lobbyist affirmation statement for the period of July 1 to December 31, 2011 has been modified.

The lobbyist affirmation is now due on February 4, 2012.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the creation of an ethics reform task force charged with overhauling and strengthening the city’s ethics ordinance.

The task force will be given four months to rewrite the city’s ethics ordinance.