Lobbyist-Oriented Ethics Reform in Chicago
Robert Wechsler
Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues to make small government ethics improvements
in Chicago. Yesterday, according
to a city press release, the council passed five ethics
reforms, all but one of them involving lobbyists. The principal
reform is the creation of a searchable online lobbyist registration
and reporting system. This will replace the current list
of registered lobbyists with something like the
system in Cook County (which includes Chicago; they apparently
don't go far afield for their ideas in Chicago).
Lobbyists will also have to disclose their campaign contributions to elected officials and to city employees running for office. The second part is a nifty idea, but I don't see why all city candidates, whether already officials are not, are not included in the disclosure requirement. Unfortunately, disclosure is only twice a year.
In addition, lobbyists have been added to two ethics provisions, one limiting gifts to $50 and an annual aggregate of $100 (to each official, not from each lobbyist), the other prohibiting loans to officials and employees.
Finally, the mayor's post-employment executive order is now an ordinance.
As usual, reform is both limited and content- rather than process-oriented. Let's hope these partial reforms are intended for maximum political benefit and become enough of a habit to add up to a big reform.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
203-859-1959
Lobbyists will also have to disclose their campaign contributions to elected officials and to city employees running for office. The second part is a nifty idea, but I don't see why all city candidates, whether already officials are not, are not included in the disclosure requirement. Unfortunately, disclosure is only twice a year.
In addition, lobbyists have been added to two ethics provisions, one limiting gifts to $50 and an annual aggregate of $100 (to each official, not from each lobbyist), the other prohibiting loans to officials and employees.
Finally, the mayor's post-employment executive order is now an ordinance.
As usual, reform is both limited and content- rather than process-oriented. Let's hope these partial reforms are intended for maximum political benefit and become enough of a habit to add up to a big reform.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
203-859-1959