Campaign finance requirements in Illinois

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Illinois campaign finance requirements govern the following:

• how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
• how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
• how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.

In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.

As of May 2015, individuals could contribute no more than $5,400 to candidates for office. Corporations and unions could contribute up to $10,800 to candidates for office, and these groups could make unlimited contributions to ballot measure campaigns.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and the oversight of the public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate, and must begin to report their campaign finances, once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in pursuit of his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark for status as a candidate, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, to be responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer, and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered the committee. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered with the FEC. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

The Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election. In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remain constitutional. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may now contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.

Contribution limits

The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Illinois as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Illinois contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	PACs	Political Party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Governor	$5,400	$53,900	$53,900	$215,800	$0	$10,800	$10,800
Statewide Candidate	$5,400	$53,900	$53,900	$200,000	$0	$10,800	$10,800
Senate	$5,400	$53,900	$53,900	$134,900	$0	$10,800	$10,800
House	$5,400	$53,900	$53,900	$80,900	$0	$10,800	$10,800
PAC	$10,800	$53,900	$53,900	$21,600	$0	$21,600	$21,600
Party committees	$10,800	unlimited	$53,900	unlimited	$0	$21,600	$21,600
Ballot measures	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: State of Illinois Board of Elections, "Disclosure of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures and Rules and Regulations," accessed May 21, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Illinois

See statutes: Chapter 10, Section 5, Article 9 of the Illinois Statutes

The campaign finance reporting process for candidates seeking state office in Illinois is outlined below. Candidates seeking federal office must file with the Federal Election Commission. Reporting details for federal candidates are not included in this section.

Candidate political committees

A candidate who plans to spend over $5,000 for his or her campaign, even if using only personal funds, must form a candidate political committee and file campaign finance reports. A candidate may have only one candidate political committee per office he or she holds or seeks.

Within 10 business days of forming a candidate political committee, the committee must file a Statement of Organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections, unless the committee is formed within 30 days of an election, in which case the Statement of Organization must be filed within two business days of the committee’s formation. If any information on the original Statement of Organization changes, an amendment must be filed notifying the Illinois State Board of Elections of the change within 10 days of implementing the change. The Statement of Organization must be signed, dated and verified by the candidate and must include the following:

• the name, address and type of political committee (n this case, the candidate would designate a candidate political committee)
• the party affiliation and purpose of the committee
• the name and address of each officer of the committee, such as chairman and treasurer, and any others in charge of keeping financial accounts
• the name and address of any sponsoring entities (a sponsoring entity must contribute 33 percent of the committee’s total funds to be considered a sponsoring entity)
• a statement on how the committee plans to dispose of extra funds upon termination of the committee
• a list of all banks or financial institutions the committee will use
• the amount of funds available to the committee as of the filing date of the Statement of Organization

Reporting requirements

All candidates must file quarterly reports covering the four quarters of the year: January 1 through March 31, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30 and October 1 through December 31. These reports are due on the 15th day of the month following the last month covered in the report.

A quarterly report must be filed even if no financial transactions occurred during the time period covered by the report.

Reports must be cumulative and must include the following:

• the name and address of the candidate political committee
• the name of the person filing the report, if other than the chairman or treasurer
• the amount of funds on hand at the beginning of the reporting period
• the name and address of each person who contributed funds, including any rebates, refunds or income from investments, to the committee in an aggregate total of $150 or more, along with the amounts and dates of those contributions; if the contributions exceeded $500, the occupation and employers of the contributor must also be included
• the total sum of individual contributions of $150 or less
• the name and address of any political committee who transferred funds to or from the reporting committee in an aggregate total of over $150
• the total sum of individual transfers made under $150
• the names and addresses of each lender or endorser of loans over $150, along with the amount and date of each loan; if the loans exceeded $500, the occupation and employer of the lenders or endorsers must also be included
• the total proceeds from sales of tickets to events, collections at events and sales of political items such as buttons, pins or banners
• the total sum of all receipts.
• the name and address of each person to whom expenditures were made, including personal services and salaries, in excess of $150, along with the amount, date and purpose of the expenditure
• the value of each asset held as an investment as of the last day of the report
• the total sum of expenditures made
• the name and address of each person to whom the committee owes debts or obligations of $150 or more, along with the amount and date of those debts
• a statement, signed and dated by the candidate, verifying that the report has been reviewed by the candidate and that it is true and correct to the best of his or her knowledge and belief

A candidate may need to submit additional reports if contributions received or expenditures made exceed $1,000 during the 30 days before an election. If contributions of over $1,000 are received during that time, an electronic report must be filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections within two days of receipt. If expenditures of $1,000 or more are made during that time, an electronic report must be filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections within five days.

Copies of all reports must be maintained by those responsible for filing them for a period of two years.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Illinois state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Election and campaign ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Illinois ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 12 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Illinois Governor Recall Amendment (2010)
2. Illinois Voting Requirement Amendment (1988)
3. Illinois Direct Election of United States Senators Question (1902)
4. Illinois Primary Election Law (1904)
5. Illinois Voters' Veto Question (1904)
6. Illinois Corrupt Practices Act (1910)
7. Illinois Primary Law Amendment Question (1912)
8. Illinois Short Ballot Commission Question (1912)
9. Illinois Initiative and Referendum Question (1919)
10. Illinois Gateway Amendment (1919)
11. Illinois Reduce Size of House of Representatives and Eliminate Cumulative Voting Initiative (1980)
12. Illinois Penalties for Candidate Interference with Election Worker's Duties Advisory Question (2024)

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Illinois and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

Illinois State Board of Elections
Why: This agency is the authority on all laws, information and procedures dealing with elections.

Springfield Office:

2329 S. MacArthur Blvd., Springfield, IL 62704

Telephone: 217-782-4141

Fax: 217-782-5959

Chicago Office:

100 W. Randolph, Suite 14-100, Chicago, IL 60601

Telephone: 312-814-6440

Fax: 312-814-6485

Email: [email protected]

http://www.elections.state.il.us/

Illinois Secretary of State
Why: This agency provides and processes Statements of Economic Interests.

Office of the Secretary of State

Index Division

111 East Monroe

Springfield, IL 62756

Phone: 217-782-7017

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Illinois campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Illinois - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Illinois
• Illinois