News Items

August 19, 2009

Public Act 095-0971 took effect January 1, 2009, establishing a new set of registration and reporting requirements for certain State vendors/bidders, and certifications by all such contractors who meet certain dollar thresholds.  In addition, the new law imposes limitations on campaign contributions to certain State candidates (the Governor, Lt Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller and the Treasurer) by companies, their top corporate officers, along with sales personnel whose compensation reflects contract wins as well as “affiliated entities” of the company which includes “any political committee sponsored by your company…”

See Fact Sheet, http://www.elections.il.gov/BusinessRegistration/BusinessRegistrationFAQ.aspx

Electronic registration for companies that have not registered before and those companies that did so in paper form must get re-registered by September 30, 2009.  The contract dollar threshold is fairly low…$50,000, and awards and bids get aggregated. The Fact Sheet provides more details about these new provisions.  Registrants must notify all applicable Chief Procurement Officers (see Fact Sheet for complete list) upon registering.  In addition registrants must “notify any political committee to which it (company/PAC/top corporate officer) makes a contribution that the company is registered with the State Board of Elections.”  Such notification is to occur at the time the contribution is made. The rules are vague on what form the “notification” takes…best that it be in writing either in a cover letter or stamped on the check.

Conclusion: More states and even some municipalities are considering installing similar forms of registration and disclosure systems.  It is important that procurement officials and political and public relations personnel ensure that the lines of communication are wide open and there’s lots of information sharing taking place.