An ethics ordinance aimed at restricting lobbyists’ donations to Chicago mayors was stalled Wednesday amid pushback from Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The ordinance to fine or suspend lobbyists who make contributions to a mayoral candidate’s political fund was blocked by two aldermen during a City Council meeting via a parliamentary tactic.
The legislation, crafted in an apparent rebuke of how Johnson handled lobbyist donations his political committee received, could come up for a vote at the next council meeting.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel first codified the rule in a 2011 executive order, but the city’s ethics board determined in April it does not have the authority to enforce it. The board dropped several cases involving registered lobbyists improperly donating to Johnson’s political committee.
The council’s Ethics Committee unanimously passed the measure last Thursday, despite Johnson’s pleas to aldermen to vote it down. But Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, and Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, used the “defer and publish” maneuver to block the vote.
Addressing reporters afterward, Taliaferro said the Johnson administration was not behind his move to block Martin’s legislation and instead said he had “questions” on how it would impact lobbyist donations to other city officials such as aldermen.
The ordinance only addresses mayors and mayoral candidates. However, Taliaferro would not say whether he is for or against a hypothetical expansion, both noting that City Council members who aren’t backed by unions would struggle without lobbyist contributions while asserting: “When you’re looking at government reform, it should apply across the board because we’re no different than the mayor.”
“No, I’m not saying I’m a proponent for that,” Taliaferro said about adding the restrictions to himself. “I don’t know yet. And I can tell you that the reason I don’t know is because I haven’t heard an in-depth explanation of what happens if it does apply to me.”
Other aldermen and good government advocates have also admonished Johnson’s team for not supporting the measure and said sitting on it would move ethics reform at City Hall backward.
Johnson’s spokesperson previously denied that the mayor opposed tightening rules on lobbyist contributions, instead saying Ald. Matt Martin and others were unwilling to expand the ordinance to include aldermen and other elected officials. Martin, 47th, told the Tribune “that’s not accurate,” adding that Johnson’s administration did not send any concrete suggestions on revising the ordinance.
Under the proposal the committee passed, a lobbyist would be fined three times the amount of the contribution unless it is returned within 10 days, and the second violation could net a 90-day suspension for the lobbyist.
And unlike the Emanuel order, the ban would extend to not just sitting mayors but all mayoral candidates. In addition, the prohibition would apply to any business that hired a lobbyist in the year preceding the contribution or any entity in which the lobbyist has over 7.5% ownership.
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