Rule curtailing lobbyist donations to Chicago mayors stalled amid Johnson pushback

An ethics ordinance aimed at restricting lobbyists’ donations to Chicago mayors was blocked Wednesday in a temporary win for Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose team came out against the measure after running into trouble over his campaign contributions.

Ahead of an expected final vote, two aldermen used a parliamentary tactic to stall the ordinance to fine or suspend lobbyists who make contributions to a mayoral candidate’s political fund. The aldermen later denied to reporters that the Johnson administration officials urged them to oppose it, but the maneuver nonetheless bought the mayor time to halt or amend the effort led by Ald. Matt Martin.

Martin said he was disappointed in the delay and intends to bring the ordinance back to the council in July.

Johnson was not enthusiastic about that timeline. In a post-council news conference, he said he wants to wait for a “full comprehensive ethics package” rather than move quickly on one that only addresses lobbyist contributions to mayoral candidates.

The legislation was crafted in response to how Johnson handled lobbyist donations his political committee received. It is part of a larger push by Martin, 47th, a progressive who is Johnson’s handpicked Ethics Committee chair, to ramp up momentum for what he says are much-needed good government reforms that the mayor has left to the wayside.

He expects to keep the proposal focused on mayors but is open to similar legislation in the future including aldermen, he said. The goal, he added, is to stop ethics “backsliding.”

“We just want to maintain the status quo,” Martin said. “What we’re working to do here is very narrow in response to the Board of Ethics’ recommendations.”

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 after running into legal problems that forced it to drop several cases involving registered lobbyists improperly donating to Johnson’s political committee.

In his news conference Wednesday, Johnson dodged questions about what specifically he wants to see changed in Martin’s ordinance, including amendments that would add aldermen and other elected officials to the restrictions. He did repeatedly endorse the idea of enacting public campaign financing in Chicago, and denied his administration is slow-walking ethics reform.

The council’s Ethics Committee passed the measure last Thursday despite resistance from Johnson’s administration, which said it unfairly targets one person and should instead apply to all elected officials. Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, and Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, used the “defer and publish” maneuver Wednesday to forestall what would have been the final floor vote.

Addressing reporters afterward, Taliaferro said Johnson was not behind his move to block Martin’s legislation and instead said he had questions about 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.

He noted City Council members who aren’t backed by unions would struggle without lobbyist contributions, while also 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 expanding the restrictions. “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.”

Meanwhile, Sposato told reporters he doesn’t think it’s fair to single out the mayor or mayoral candidates, but he does not want the restrictions to apply to aldermen, either.

“This is a very accusatory ordinance, like he’s doing the wrong thing and he’s being so evil and bad,” said Sposato, a frequent Johnson critic. “But if it happens for the mayor, it should be the same for us.”

Other aldermen and good government advocates have admonished Johnson’s team for not supporting the plan and said sitting on it would move ethics reform at City Hall backward.

Johnson’s spokesperson previously denied the mayor opposed tightening rules on lobbyist contributions, instead saying Martin and others were unwilling to expand the ordinance to include aldermen and other elected officials. Martin then 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.

Also Wednesday, the council approved a $50 million settlement for four men imprisoned after detectives allegedly forced their false confessions to a double murder as teens. The men were convicted and spent a combined 73 years behind bars but were exonerated after new fingerprinting technology did not connect them to the crime scene.

The costly deal is the largest settlement for alleged police misconduct in Chicago’s history — a record set just three months ago. Aldermen have approved about $300 million to settle Chicago police-related lawsuits since the start of 2021.

“No compensation can give back to these men what was taken from them, but the city’s willingness to settle this matter restores some measure of faith in the system and the belief that justice can be achieved through perseverance and unwavering commitment,” Michael Oppenheimer, an attorney representing Troshawn McCoy, one of the four men, said in a statement Wednesday after the vote.

Later, Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, introduced an ordinance to set an 8 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors in downtown Chicago . But the curfew attempt was sent to the council’s Rules Committee by Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th — a stall tactic that will likely block any curfew from being implemented this summer.

Chicago already has a long-running 10 p.m. citywide curfew for unaccompanied minors. Hopkins’ proposal comes a week after a couple was attacked in an “unprovoked and aggravated assault” that led to the arrest of two teens.

Aldermen also passed an ordinance aimed at quieting anti-abortion protests outside a Chicago women’s health clinic . The ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, had been stalled by opponents last month. Sposato again argued Wednesday the ordinance would infringe upon First Amendment rights of anti-abortion Christian protesters.

“You all have really blown this out of proportion,” Sposato said. “You act like there’s a bunch of biker thugs out there looking to beat the crap out of somebody, and that’s not what’s going on. There’s a bunch of women and children out there, mostly praying, a lot of Catholics.”

But backed by a flood of supportive statements from fellow aldermen before the 41-4 vote, Conway defended the ordinance as a way to respect protesters’ rights, but take away their amplifiers to protect patients.

“We are on firm legal footing here,” he said.

The restrictions outside the West Loop’s Family Planning Associates clinic will ban noise-making devices from directly outside the clinic as soon as signs are placed.

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