Amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-156 regarding ethical code of conduct for City Council contractors, lobbyists and candidates for City office

Votes › Ethics and Government Oversight › 47th Ward: Matthew J. Martin

• Record number: SO2024-0007359
• Type: Ordinance; category: Municipal Code Amendments
• Status: Final
• Sponsor: Matthew J. Martin (47th Ward)
• Committee: Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight
• Introduction Date: Jan 24, 2024
• Final Action Date: Sep 23, 2026
• Official record: Office of the City Clerk

Roll call: Passed Sep 23, 2026

50 yea, 0 nay. On motion of Alderperson Martin, and unsuccessful motion to reconsider by Alderperson Mitchell, the matter was Passed. Voted at the City Council meeting of Sep 23, 2026.

Yea (50): Daniel La Spata (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Lamont J. Robinson (4), Desmon C. Yancy (5), William E. Hall (6), Gregory I. Mitchell (7), Michelle A. Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Peter Chico (10), Nicole T. Lee (11), Julia M. Ramirez (12), Marty Quinn (13), Jeylú B. Gutiérrez (14), Raymond A. Lopez (15), Stephanie D. Coleman (16), David H. Moore (17), Derrick G. Curtis (18), Matthew J. O'Shea (19), Jeanette B. Taylor (20), Ronnie L. Mosley (21), Michael D. Rodriguez (22), Silvana Tabares (23), Monique L. Scott (24), Byron Sigcho-López (25), Jessica L. Fuentes (26), Walter R. Burnett (27), Jason C. Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ruth Cruz (30), Felix Cardona Jr. (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (33), William Conway (34), Anthony J. Quezada (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Samantha Nugent (39), Andre Vasquez Jr. (40), Anthony V. Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Timothy R. Knudsen (43), Bennett R. Lawson (44), James M. Gardiner (45), Angela Clay (46), Matthew J. Martin (47), Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48), Maria E. Hadden (49), Debra L. Silverstein (50)

Plain-language summary

Written by AI (claude-opus-5-5) from the ordinance text only: SO2024-0007359 Final.pdf. AI can make mistakes; the official document always wins.

This ordinance changes Chicago's ethics rules so that many of them also cover City Council contractors, meaning people hired as independent contractors by aldermen or City Council committees to do government-related work. It also adds rules for candidates for City office and their political committees, such as banning the use of City property to influence elections and requiring candidates to approve and label their paid ads. It takes effect thirty days after it is passed and published.

• City Council contractors must report corrupt or unlawful activity, avoid conflicts of interest, protect confidential information, follow gift rules, and file statements of financial interests if their work is not solely clerical.
• Contractors doing maintenance work such as custodial services, painting, landscaping, or plumbing are not counted as City Council contractors.
• Candidates and political fundraising committees may not use City property, now including City workers' time on official duties, to influence elections; a candidate's committee using City property counts as use by the candidate.
• Paid campaign communications authorized by a candidate must say who paid for them and include a statement that the candidate approved them.
• If a political committee closes while owing an ethics fine, a related or successor committee must pay it; this applies to fines imposed on or after January 1, 2027.

Money

• $50.00: a non-monetary gift worth no more than this is presumed not to be given to influence official actions
• $20.00: the most an employee may ask a coworker to contribute, or give, toward a gift for a superior
• $1,000: income from an organization above this amount must be listed on statements of financial interests

Who: City Council contractors, City officials and employees, lobbyists, City contractors, candidates for City office, and political fundraising committees are affected by these rules.

Timeline

• Jan 24, 2024: Referred, City Council. The matter was Referred to Committee.
• May 7, 2024: Substituted, Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight. The matter was substituted in committee.
• Sep 9, 2026: Recommended to Pass, Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight. The matter was recommended to Pass by controlling legislative body.
• Sep 23, 2026: Passed, City Council (50 yea, 0 nay), at the City Council meeting. On motion of Alderperson Martin, and unsuccessful motion to reconsider by Alderperson Mitchell, the matter was Passed.

Documents

• SO2024-0007359 Final.pdf (Legislation)
• W47 - O7359.pdf (Legislation)
• SO2024-0007359 v4.4.pdf (Legislation)
• SO2024-0007359 final R33 Sub.pdf (Legislation)

Related legislation

More from Matthew J. Martin

• Exemption from physical barrier requirement for commercial driveway alley access for Barrett Homes LLC (O2026-0029067, introduced Oct 14, 2026, Referred)
• Amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-156 by modifying various sections and adding new sections regarding candidates for election… (O2026-0028868, introduced Sep 23, 2026, Referred)
• Executive Director of Public Safety Administration directed to conduct audit of each city vendor that maintains, manages, or otherwise… (Or2026-0028873, introduced Sep 23, 2026, Referred)

More on Municipal Code Amendments

• Amendment of Municipal Code Section 9-24-065 regarding ability to pay pilot program (O2026-0029654, introduced Dec 8, 2026, Council Introduction)
• Amendment of Municipal Code Titles 3, 4 and 8 regarding technical and scriveners' corrections (2027 Municipal Code Corrections Ordinance) (O2026-0029649, introduced Oct 21, 2026, Referred)
• Amendment of Municipal Code Titles 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14A, 15, 17 regarding management, structure, powers and functions of various… (O2026-0029644, introduced Oct 21, 2026, Referred)

Sources and methods: how we get and count this data · report an error