Bill Text: IL SB1234 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Expands the jurisdiction of the Executive Ethics Commission to include vendors and others doing business with State agencies (currently, officers and employees of State agencies). Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1234 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB1234-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB1234 Introduced 2/6/2019, by Sen. Heather A. Steans SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
5 ILCS 430/20-5
Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Expands the jurisdiction of the Executive Ethics Commission to include vendors and others doing business with State agencies (currently, officers and employees of State agencies). Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is
amended by changing Section 20-5 as follows:
(5 ILCS 430/20-5)
Sec. 20-5. Executive Ethics Commission.
(a) The Executive Ethics Commission is created.
(b) The Executive Ethics Commission shall consist of 9
commissioners. The Governor shall appoint 5 commissioners, and
the Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and
Treasurer shall each appoint one commissioner. Appointments
shall be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate
by three-fifths of the elected members concurring by record
vote. Any nomination not acted upon by the Senate within 60
session days of the receipt thereof shall be deemed to have
received the advice and consent of the Senate. If, during a
recess of the Senate, there is a vacancy in an office of
commissioner, the appointing authority shall make a temporary
appointment until the next meeting of the Senate when the
appointing authority shall make a nomination to fill that
office. No person rejected for an office of commissioner shall,
except by the Senate's request, be nominated again for that

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office at the same session of the Senate or be appointed to
that office during a recess of that Senate. No more than 5
commissioners may be of the same political party.
The terms of the initial commissioners shall commence upon
qualification. Four initial appointees of the Governor, as
designated by the Governor, shall serve terms running through
June 30, 2007. One initial appointee of the Governor, as
designated by the Governor, and the initial appointees of the
Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and
Treasurer shall serve terms running through June 30, 2008. The
initial appointments shall be made within 60 days after the
effective date of this Act.
After the initial terms, commissioners shall serve for
4-year terms commencing on July 1 of the year of appointment
and running through June 30 of the fourth following year.
Commissioners may be reappointed to one or more subsequent
terms.
Vacancies occurring other than at the end of a term shall
be filled by the appointing authority only for the balance of
the term of the commissioner whose office is vacant.
Terms shall run regardless of whether the position is
filled.
(c) The appointing authorities shall appoint commissioners
who have experience holding governmental office or employment
and shall appoint commissioners from the general public. A
person is not eligible to serve as a commissioner if that

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person (i) has been convicted of a felony or a crime of
dishonesty or moral turpitude, (ii) is, or was within the
preceding 12 months, engaged in activities that require
registration under the Lobbyist Registration Act, (iii) is
related to the appointing authority, or (iv) is a State officer
or employee.
(d) The Executive Ethics Commission shall have
jurisdiction over all officers and employees of, and vendors
and others doing business with, State agencies other than the
General Assembly, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the
President and Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker and
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Senate
Operations Commission, the legislative support services
agencies, and the Office of the Auditor General. The Executive
Ethics Commission shall have jurisdiction over all board
members and employees of Regional Transit Boards. The
jurisdiction of the Commission is limited to matters arising
under this Act, except as provided in subsection (d-5).
A member or legislative branch State employee serving on an
executive branch board or commission remains subject to the
jurisdiction of the Legislative Ethics Commission and is not
subject to the jurisdiction of the Executive Ethics Commission.
(d-5) The Executive Ethics Commission shall have
jurisdiction over all chief procurement officers and
procurement compliance monitors and their respective staffs.
The Executive Ethics Commission shall have jurisdiction over

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any matters arising under the Illinois Procurement Code if the
Commission is given explicit authority in that Code.
(d-6) (1) The Executive Ethics Commission shall have
jurisdiction over the Illinois Power Agency and its staff. The
Director of the Agency shall be appointed by a majority of the
commissioners of the Executive Ethics Commission, subject to
Senate confirmation, for a term of 2 years. The Director is
removable for cause by a majority of the Commission upon a
finding of neglect, malfeasance, absence, or incompetence.
(2) In case of a vacancy in the office of Director of the
Illinois Power Agency during a recess of the Senate, the
Executive Ethics Commission may make a temporary appointment
until the next meeting of the Senate, at which time the
Executive Ethics Commission shall nominate some person to fill
the office, and any person so nominated who is confirmed by the
Senate shall hold office during the remainder of the term and
until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. Nothing
in this subsection shall prohibit the Executive Ethics
Commission from removing a temporary appointee or from
appointing a temporary appointee as the Director of the
Illinois Power Agency.
(3) Prior to June 1, 2012, the Executive Ethics Commission
may, until the Director of the Illinois Power Agency is
appointed and qualified or a temporary appointment is made
pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, designate some
person as an acting Director to execute the powers and

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discharge the duties vested by law in that Director. An acting
Director shall serve no later than 60 calendar days, or upon
the making of an appointment pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2)
of this subsection, whichever is earlier. Nothing in this
subsection shall prohibit the Executive Ethics Commission from
removing an acting Director or from appointing an acting
Director as the Director of the Illinois Power Agency.
(4) No person rejected by the Senate for the office of
Director of the Illinois Power Agency shall, except at the
Senate's request, be nominated again for that office at the
same session or be appointed to that office during a recess of
that Senate.
(e) The Executive Ethics Commission must meet, either in
person or by other technological means, at least monthly and as
often as necessary. At the first meeting of the Executive
Ethics Commission, the commissioners shall choose from their
number a chairperson and other officers that they deem
appropriate. The terms of officers shall be for 2 years
commencing July 1 and running through June 30 of the second
following year. Meetings shall be held at the call of the
chairperson or any 3 commissioners. Official action by the
Commission shall require the affirmative vote of 5
commissioners, and a quorum shall consist of 5 commissioners.
Commissioners shall receive compensation in an amount equal to
the compensation of members of the State Board of Elections and
may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses actually

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incurred in the performance of their duties.
(f) No commissioner or employee of the Executive Ethics
Commission may during his or her term of appointment or
employment:
(1) become a candidate for any elective office;
(2) hold any other elected or appointed public office
except for appointments on governmental advisory boards or
study commissions or as otherwise expressly authorized by
law;
(3) be actively involved in the affairs of any
political party or political organization; or
(4) advocate for the appointment of another person to
an appointed or elected office or position or actively
participate in any campaign for any elective office.
(g) An appointing authority may remove a commissioner only
for cause.
(h) The Executive Ethics Commission shall appoint an
Executive Director. The compensation of the Executive Director
shall be as determined by the Commission. The Executive
Director of the Executive Ethics Commission may employ and
determine the compensation of staff, as appropriations permit.
(i) The Executive Ethics Commission shall appoint, by a
majority of the members appointed to the Commission, chief
procurement officers and may appoint procurement compliance
monitors in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois
Procurement Code. The compensation of a chief procurement

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officer and procurement compliance monitor shall be determined
by the Commission.
(Source: P.A. 100-43, eff. 8-9-17.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.