City Hall lobbyists could soon face stiffer penalties for giving money to mayoral campaigns under a proposed ordinance spurred by allegations of improper contributions to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign.
The measure advanced Thursday by the City Council’s Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight would also ban lobbyists from donating to mayoral candidates through separate businesses entities — maneuvers that prompted former Mayor Lori Lightfoot to return a series of contributions in 2022.
Mayors have been barred taking campaign cash from lobbyists since 2011 under an executive order signed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Codifying that into city ordinance would “help bolster public confidence in the integrity of Chicago government,” city Board of Ethics director Steve Berlin told committee members.
“If this amendment is not enacted, it would roll back this part of the city’s ethics laws to the way they were up until May 2011, and thus erase 13 years of reform,” Berlin said. “More importantly, it would annul the spirit of one of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s key ethics reforms.”
Current city ordinance allows lobbyists to give up to $1,500 to candidates for city office, or up to the statewide limit of $13,700 through companies they control.
The proposed ordinance sponsored by Ethics Committee chair Ald. Matt Martin (47th) would bar all lobbyist contributions to incumbent mayors or mayoral candidates. Contributions would also be barred from companies in which a lobbyist has an ownership stake of at least 7.5%.
Lobbyists found in violation would be fined three times their contribution amount, unless they seek a refund. Further violations would result in 90-day lobbying suspensions.
The Board of Ethics recommended Johnson codify Emanuel’s executive order earlier this year after investigating several contributions to Johnson’s campaign, including a $2,000 contribution from lobbyist Anthony Bruno. The donations were returned.
The Board found probable cause that the contributions were improper but dropped their cases against the lobbyists after determining they didn’t have the legal authority to enforce Emanuel’s order.
The Sun-Times previously reported Lightfoot’s campaign took $68,500 from companies affiliated with lobbyist Carmen A. Rossi. Her campaign also ended up returning most of that money.
The proposed ordinance doesn’t apply to contributions made by city contractors, and it doesn’t cover donations to City Council members or other statewide elected officials.
“This does move the ball forward, even if it’s not where we want it to ultimately be,” said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th).
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) suggested Council members should examine contributions from labor unions, pointing to Johnson’s backing from the Chicago Teachers Union, which pumped more than $2 million into his campaign.
“In some cases, some of our colleagues are wholly owned subsidiaries of an organization that literally bankrolled their entire campaign. And if this is really about getting money and the influence of it out of politics, it seems like we’re nibbling around the edges here,” Reilly said.
Johnson’s office didn’t return a message seeking comment on the proposed ordinance.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), who expressed concern that the ban wouldn’t apply to all city officials, was the lone committee member to vote against it.
The full Council is expected to vote on the ordinance at its next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, June 12.
