Legislation prohibits no-bid contracts to contributors

[MARCH 4, 2005]  SPRINGFIELD -- State officeholders will not be allowed to receive campaign contributions from individuals or companies holding no-bid state contracts, under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington.

"The news has been full of stories about state contracts and campaign contributions," Brady said. "Chicago Mayor Richard Daley took the high road and announced that he would not accept political money from anyone who does business with that city. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, on the other hand, has not taken any such action. Accepting political money from state contract holders is not illegal right now, but the whole concept is wrong. It is hard for anyone to believe that a political contribution does not influence who gets a contract."

Senate Bill 1976 prohibits state officials from entering into "no-bid" contracts with contractors who have made a political contribution to that official within the past four years. It also prohibits state officials from accepting contributions from contractors to whom an official already has given a no-bid contract.

The legislation applies to contracts awarded by the governor and other elected constitutional officers (comptroller, treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general), legislators, and state agencies and offices under any of those officials.

Brady noted that the legislation covers campaign contributions made not just by a contract holder itself, but also campaign contributions made by businesses and people related to the contractor as follows:

• Parent corporations and subsidiaries of the contractor.
• Owners of more than 5 percent of the contractor.
• Key officers of the contractor.
• The contractor's lobbyists.
• Spouses and children of all these related businesses and people.

Contracts are considered "no-bid" if they do not follow competitive bidding procedures.

"By not allowing campaign contributions to be associated with contracts, my legislation eliminates the appearance of buying access to state business," Brady said. "Many of these state contracts are quite lucrative, and we must make sure we are getting the best deal for taxpayer dollars."

[News release]