96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB4734

 

Introduced 1/4/2010, by Rep. Sidney H. Mathias

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
5 ILCS 430/1-5

    Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Defines as a prohibited political activity the wearing or displaying of items expressing support for or against a candidate or referendum question while registering voters as a deputy registrar or assisting persons in completing mail-in voter registration applications. Defines a "candidate" to include candidates for federal and local offices as well as State offices.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning government.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is
5 amended by changing Section 1-5 as follows:
 
6     (5 ILCS 430/1-5)
7     Sec. 1-5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8     "Appointee" means a person appointed to a position in or
9 with a State agency, regardless of whether the position is
10 compensated.
11     "Campaign for elective office" means any activity in
12 furtherance of an effort to influence the selection,
13 nomination, election, or appointment of any individual to any
14 federal, State, or local public office or office in a political
15 organization, or the selection, nomination, or election of
16 Presidential or Vice-Presidential electors, but does not
17 include activities (i) relating to the support or opposition of
18 any executive, legislative, or administrative action (as those
19 terms are defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration
20 Act), (ii) relating to collective bargaining, or (iii) that are
21 otherwise in furtherance of the person's official State duties.
22     "Candidate" means a person who has filed nominating papers
23 or petitions for nomination or election to an elected State

 

 

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1 office, or who has been appointed to fill a vacancy in
2 nomination, and who remains eligible for placement on the
3 ballot at either a general primary election or general
4 election.
5     "Collective bargaining" has the same meaning as that term
6 is defined in Section 3 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations
7 Act.
8     "Commission" means an ethics commission created by this
9 Act.
10     "Compensated time" means any time worked by or credited to
11 a State employee that counts toward any minimum work time
12 requirement imposed as a condition of employment with a State
13 agency, but does not include any designated State holidays or
14 any period when the employee is on a leave of absence.
15     "Compensatory time off" means authorized time off earned by
16 or awarded to a State employee to compensate in whole or in
17 part for time worked in excess of the minimum work time
18 required of that employee as a condition of employment with a
19 State agency.
20     "Contribution" has the same meaning as that term is defined
21 in Section 9-1.4 of the Election Code.
22     "Employee" means (i) any person employed full-time,
23 part-time, or pursuant to a contract and whose employment
24 duties are subject to the direction and control of an employer
25 with regard to the material details of how the work is to be
26 performed or (ii) any appointed or elected commissioner,

 

 

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1 trustee, director, or board member of a board of a State
2 agency, including any retirement system or investment board
3 subject to the Illinois Pension Code or (iii) any other
4 appointee.
5     "Employment benefits" include but are not limited to the
6 following: modified compensation or benefit terms; compensated
7 time off; or change of title, job duties, or location of office
8 or employment. An employment benefit may also include favorable
9 treatment in determining whether to bring any disciplinary or
10 similar action or favorable treatment during the course of any
11 disciplinary or similar action or other performance review.
12     "Executive branch constitutional officer" means the
13 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of
14 State, Comptroller, and Treasurer.
15     "Gift" means any gratuity, discount, entertainment,
16 hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other tangible or
17 intangible item having monetary value including, but not
18 limited to, cash, food and drink, and honoraria for speaking
19 engagements related to or attributable to government
20 employment or the official position of an employee, member, or
21 officer.
22     "Governmental entity" means a unit of local government
23 (including a community college district) or a school district
24 but not a State agency.
25     "Leave of absence" means any period during which a State
26 employee does not receive (i) compensation for State

 

 

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1 employment, (ii) service credit towards State pension
2 benefits, and (iii) health insurance benefits paid for by the
3 State.
4     "Legislative branch constitutional officer" means a member
5 of the General Assembly and the Auditor General.
6     "Legislative leader" means the President and Minority
7 Leader of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
8 House of Representatives.
9     "Member" means a member of the General Assembly.
10     "Officer" means an executive branch constitutional officer
11 or a legislative branch constitutional officer.
12     "Political" means any activity in support of or in
13 connection with any campaign for elective office or any
14 political organization, but does not include activities (i)
15 relating to the support or opposition of any executive,
16 legislative, or administrative action (as those terms are
17 defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration Act), (ii)
18 relating to collective bargaining, or (iii) that are otherwise
19 in furtherance of the person's official State duties or
20 governmental and public service functions.
21     "Political organization" means a party, committee,
22 association, fund, or other organization (whether or not
23 incorporated) that is required to file a statement of
24 organization with the State Board of Elections or a county
25 clerk under Section 9-3 of the Election Code, but only with
26 regard to those activities that require filing with the State

 

 

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1 Board of Elections or a county clerk.
2     "Prohibited political activity" means:
3         (1) Preparing for, organizing, or participating in any
4     political meeting, political rally, political
5     demonstration, or other political event.
6         (2) Soliciting contributions, including but not
7     limited to the purchase of, selling, distributing, or
8     receiving payment for tickets for any political
9     fundraiser, political meeting, or other political event.
10         (3) Soliciting, planning the solicitation of, or
11     preparing any document or report regarding any thing of
12     value intended as a campaign contribution.
13         (4) Planning, conducting, or participating in a public
14     opinion poll in connection with a campaign for elective
15     office or on behalf of a political organization for
16     political purposes or for or against any referendum
17     question.
18         (5) Surveying or gathering information from potential
19     or actual voters in an election to determine probable vote
20     outcome in connection with a campaign for elective office
21     or on behalf of a political organization for political
22     purposes or for or against any referendum question.
23         (6) Assisting at the polls on election day on behalf of
24     any political organization or candidate for elective
25     office or for or against any referendum question.
26         (7) Soliciting votes on behalf of a candidate for

 

 

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1     elective office or a political organization or for or
2     against any referendum question or helping in an effort to
3     get voters to the polls.
4         (8) Initiating for circulation, preparing,
5     circulating, reviewing, or filing any petition on behalf of
6     a candidate for elective office or for or against any
7     referendum question.
8         (9) Making contributions on behalf of any candidate for
9     elective office in that capacity or in connection with a
10     campaign for elective office.
11         (10) Preparing or reviewing responses to candidate
12     questionnaires in connection with a campaign for elective
13     office or on behalf of a political organization for
14     political purposes.
15         (11) Distributing, preparing for distribution, or
16     mailing campaign literature, campaign signs, or other
17     campaign material on behalf of any candidate for elective
18     office or for or against any referendum question.
19         (12) Campaigning for any elective office or for or
20     against any referendum question.
21         (13) Managing or working on a campaign for elective
22     office or for or against any referendum question.
23         (14) Serving as a delegate, alternate, or proxy to a
24     political party convention.
25         (15) Participating in any recount or challenge to the
26     outcome of any election, except to the extent that under

 

 

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1     subsection (d) of Section 6 of Article IV of the Illinois
2     Constitution each house of the General Assembly shall judge
3     the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members.
4         (16) Notwithstanding any collective bargaining
5     agreement, while registering voters as a deputy registrar
6     or assisting persons in completing mail-in voter
7     registration applications, wearing or having within the
8     view of a prospective voter any button, lapel pin, bumper
9     sticker, or other item that expresses support for or
10     opposition to (i) a candidate, as defined in this Section
11     but also including candidates for federal and local
12     offices, or (ii) a referendum question.
13     "Prohibited source" means any person or entity who:
14         (1) is seeking official action (i) by the member or
15     officer or (ii) in the case of an employee, by the employee
16     or by the member, officer, State agency, or other employee
17     directing the employee;
18         (2) does business or seeks to do business (i) with the
19     member or officer or (ii) in the case of an employee, with
20     the employee or with the member, officer, State agency, or
21     other employee directing the employee;
22         (3) conducts activities regulated (i) by the member or
23     officer or (ii) in the case of an employee, by the employee
24     or by the member, officer, State agency, or other employee
25     directing the employee;
26         (4) has interests that may be substantially affected by

 

 

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1     the performance or non-performance of the official duties
2     of the member, officer, or employee;
3         (5) is registered or required to be registered with the
4     Secretary of State under the Lobbyist Registration Act,
5     except that an entity not otherwise a prohibited source
6     does not become a prohibited source merely because a
7     registered lobbyist is one of its members or serves on its
8     board of directors; or
9         (6) is an agent of, a spouse of, or an immediate family
10     member who is living with a "prohibited source".
11     "State agency" includes all officers, boards, commissions
12 and agencies created by the Constitution, whether in the
13 executive or legislative branch; all officers, departments,
14 boards, commissions, agencies, institutions, authorities,
15 public institutions of higher learning as defined in Section 2
16 of the Higher Education Cooperation Act (except community
17 colleges), and bodies politic and corporate of the State; and
18 administrative units or corporate outgrowths of the State
19 government which are created by or pursuant to statute, other
20 than units of local government (including community college
21 districts) and their officers, school districts, and boards of
22 election commissioners; and all administrative units and
23 corporate outgrowths of the above and as may be created by
24 executive order of the Governor. "State agency" includes the
25 General Assembly, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the
26 President and Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and

 

 

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1 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Senate
2 Operations Commission, and the legislative support services
3 agencies. "State agency" includes the Office of the Auditor
4 General. "State agency" does not include the judicial branch.
5     "State employee" means any employee of a State agency.
6     "Ultimate jurisdictional authority" means the following:
7         (1) For members, legislative partisan staff, and
8     legislative secretaries, the appropriate legislative
9     leader: President of the Senate, Minority Leader of the
10     Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, or
11     Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
12         (2) For State employees who are professional staff or
13     employees of the Senate and not covered under item (1), the
14     Senate Operations Commission.
15         (3) For State employees who are professional staff or
16     employees of the House of Representatives and not covered
17     under item (1), the Speaker of the House of
18     Representatives.
19         (4) For State employees who are employees of the
20     legislative support services agencies, the Joint Committee
21     on Legislative Support Services.
22         (5) For State employees of the Auditor General, the
23     Auditor General.
24         (6) For State employees of public institutions of
25     higher learning as defined in Section 2 of the Higher
26     Education Cooperation Act (except community colleges), the

 

 

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1     board of trustees of the appropriate public institution of
2     higher learning.
3         (7) For State employees of an executive branch
4     constitutional officer other than those described in
5     paragraph (6), the appropriate executive branch
6     constitutional officer.
7         (8) For State employees not under the jurisdiction of
8     paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7), the
9     Governor.
10 (Source: P.A. 95-880, eff. 8-19-08; 96-6, eff. 4-3-09; 96-555,
11 eff. 8-18-09.)