Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed Amendment to House Bill 716, requiring judicial candidate committees to report all persons who have contributed in excess of $500 to the committee if received from any committee, association or group not required to disclose its contributors.

Any political committee that receives such a contribution and fails to report this information must forward the contribution amount immediately to the State Treasurer.

The bill also prohibits self-funding political committees and independent expenditure committees established to support or oppose a state judicial candidate from accepting contributions from any single person, other than the candidate or the candidate’s immediate family, in a cumulative amount exceeding $500,000 in any election cycle.

The bill is effective immediately and applies to judicial elections this year.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation prohibiting dark money contributions to judicial candidates.

Effective immediately, Senate Bill 536 prohibits a political committee established to support a state judicial candidate from accepting contributions from any out-of-state person and from any entity that does not disclose the identity of all donors to the entity.

The bill also prohibits any entity that does not disclose the identity of all donors from financing a distribution or broadcast of campaign materials prepared by the candidate, his or her campaign committee, or designated agents.

The bill also increases the threshold for which contributions to a conduit must be itemized from $500 to $1,000.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker certified the changes to Senate Bill 539, an ethics omnibus bill passed with an amendatory veto in September.

Public Act 102-0664 is effective January 1, 2022, and requires state registration under the Lobbyist Registration Act by persons lobbying local officials in counties, townships and municipalities, preempting and superseding all existing laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with the Act, except in municipalities with a population over 500,000.

The bill also requires registration by persons lobbying other specified state officials, and requires any consultant hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register if they communicate with an official, and all consultant expenditures to be reported on the lobbying entity reports.

The bill also further restricts fundraising anywhere in the state during sessions of the General Assembly.

The bill also creates a revolving door restriction for the General Assembly and officers of the executive branch prohibiting any activities that require registration for six months after leaving office.

The bill also adds anyone who participated personally and substantially in the award or fiscal administration of state contracts to the revolving door prohibitions for procurement officers and employees, prohibiting them from accepting employment within a period of one year immediately after termination of office or state employment.

The Illinois House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 539 with the amendatory veto issued by Gov. JB Pritzker.

The bill passed along party lines in a vote taken September 9, after it was rejected in an earlier vote last week.

The bill, which now goes back to Pritzker for his signature, expands state lobbyist registration requirements to the local level; prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions; expands revolving door restrictions; and requires certain consultants hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register and report.

If signed, the bill will be effective January 1, 2022. 

The Illinois House of Representatives has returned to Springfield for a special session starting at noon today to consider urgent energy legislation and vote on the amendatory veto of Senate Bill 539 issued by Gov. JB Pritzker in August.

The Senate adopted the change on August 31, but the House rejected the change with a vote taken late in the evening after some members had left the session.

The bill expands state lobbyist registration requirements to the local level; prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions; expands revolving door restrictions; and requires certain consultants hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register and report.

If the Amendatory Veto is accepted the bill will be effective January 1, 2022. 

Illinois State House lawmakers killed an ethics omnibus bill by rejecting the Amendatory Veto of Senate Bill 539 issued by Gov. JB Pritzker last week.

The requested amendment was a minor change to the bill to keep the current process regarding ethics investigations.

The Senate adopted the change, but the House, which had passed the bill by a vote of 113 to 5, rejected the change by a vote of 59 to 35.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issued an amendatory veto of Senate Bill 539 lawmakers requested to maintain the current process regarding ethics investigations.

Pritzker pledged to certify the bill once the amendatory veto passes the Legislature.

The bill expands state lobbyist registration requirements to the local level; prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions; expands revolving door restrictions; and requires certain consultants hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register and report.

If signed, the bill will be effective January 1, 2022.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon issued a joint proclamation calling on the Legislature to convene on August 31 for a one-day special session to make changes in the new state legislative district map after official 2020 population numbers were released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The House and Senate approved the state legislative map on May 28 with only Democratic votes, and Gov. JB Pritzker signed the map into law on June 4.

Republicans have filed a lawsuit in federal court to invalidate the map and give the redistricting commission remapping authority, claiming if a valid redistricting plan with the full force and effect of law was not completed by June 30, the Illinois Constitution shifts the responsibility for drafting a plan from the General Assembly to a redistricting commission.

Lobbying semimonthly reporting deadlines are now extended for 60 days, pushing the April 5 due date to June 4.

In response to the exponential spread of COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued Executive Order 2020-18 on April 1.

The order extends prior executive orders for the duration of the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamations, which currently extends through April 30.

The Legislature also remains suspended through next week.

Additionally, lawmakers have been asked to keep their calendars clear for possible return dates.