# Inspector General's report entitled "Chicago's Campaign Finance Rules: An Explainer On The Law And Its Gaps"

- Record number: **F2024-0012316**
- Type: Report; category: Reports
- Status: Final
- Sponsor: Dept./Agency
- Committee: City Council
- Submitted Date: Sep 17, 2024
- Introduction Date: Sep 18, 2024
- Final Action Date: Sep 18, 2024
- Official record: [Office of the City Clerk](https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matterId=101C9B1C-F574-EF11-A671-001DD804C7AB)

## Impact report

> Written by AI from [the official document](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/matterattachmentspublic/5ac7c3a1-2cc0-4b8f-97a7-2c4dc2ea7931.pdf). AI can make mistakes; the official document always wins.

This Inspector General report does not change any law; it explains Chicago's campaign donation limits and points out gaps that let some groups give unlimited money to City officials and candidates.

**Who it affects**

- **Registered lobbyists**: They are limited to $1,500 per official per year under City ethics law, and a 2011 order bans them from giving to the Mayor, but the report says that order cannot currently be enforced.
- **Businesses doing or seeking business with the City**: They and their affiliated companies are limited to $1,500 per official or candidate per year, and contractors face a 2011 order banning donations to the Mayor.
- **Owners and employees of City contractors**: They can give unlimited amounts under City law as long as their company does not pay them back, which the Board of Ethics calls a loophole.
- **Labor unions**: They are not covered by the $1,500 limit and can give unlimited amounts to officials and candidates under City law.
- **Political action committees (PACs)**: They can give unlimited amounts unless a City contractor has a high degree of control over them.
- **City employees and appointees**: A 2011 order bans them from giving any amount to the Mayor, with possible discipline up to firing, but the report says enforcement is unclear.

**What changes**

- No laws change; the report explains current campaign donation rules.
- Over-limit donations do not break the rules if returned, or a return is requested in writing, within 10 calendar days.
- A proposal to put the lobbyist ban on donations to the Mayor into law (SO2024-0009664) is still pending after being deferred and published.
- Board of Ethics proposals to put owners of City contractors (and, in 2023, their spouses and domestic partners) under the $1,500 limit were not adopted.
- A City website called the "520 list" shows contractors that did business with the City in the past four years.

**Money**

- $1,500: yearly donation limit per elected official or candidate for lobbyists and businesses doing or seeking business with the City.
- Fines of at least $1,000 and up to $5,000 or three times the excess donation, whichever is higher, paid by people who knowingly give or accept over-limit donations that are not returned.
- $6,900 per election cycle: the state limit that owners and officers of City contractors can give, according to the Board of Ethics.
- $10,000 in yearly business: used in the report's example of a company negotiating a City contract.

**Where**: 740 N. Sedgwick St., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60654

## Lobbying and money

> Computed links; money near a vote is not evidence that it influenced the vote.

**Who lobbied on it**

- Chicago Federation Of Labor: CAMPAIGN FINANCE LEGISLATION THAT SUPPORTS LABOR (1 filing, Apr 1, 2024 to Jun 30, 2024; Andrea Kluger; matched by semantic embedding)

**Alderpersons who received money from these interests**

| Member | Amount | From |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Michael D. Rodriguez](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/22) | $5,000 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [Nicole T. Lee](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/11) | $2,500 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [Derrick G. Curtis](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/18) | $1,500 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/33) | $1,000 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [Andre Vasquez Jr.](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/40) | $1,000 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [Anthony J. Quezada](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/35) | $500 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |
| [James M. Gardiner](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/45) | $500 | Chicago Federation Of Labor (company) |

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Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/matter/101C9B1C-F574-EF11-A671-001DD804C7AB · Chicago Politics, an independent, nonpartisan tracker of the Chicago City Council. Guide for agents: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/llms.txt