The state of the State
Hundreds examine ethics forms

SPURRED BY REVELATIONS IN 15 reels of tape recordings discovered by a Chicago reporter under mysterious circumstances a decade ago, the General Assembly created a Conflict of Interest Laws Commission in 1965. The recordings were of alleged conversations of lobbyists planning to spend $30,000 to buy off the legislature. Two years later, the report of the commission led to enactment of the Governmental Ethics Act, requiring officials to file statements of economic interest.

The 1967 law was later broadened in response to a mandate in the 1970 Constitution (Article XIII, sec. 2), and this was followed by adoption of financial reporting requirements applicable to lobbyists and to political candidates and committees. In addition, Gov. Dan Walker in 1973 issued Executive Order No. 4 requiring a much more searching financial statement be filed by key personnel in agencies responsible to the governor.

These reforms have resulted in the filing of more than 20,000 sets of sworn documents, most of them open for public inspection. In the first nine months of 1975, more than 2,000 of these documents were examined by an estimated 800 or more persons.

Financial disclosure requirements
The Governmental Ethics Act (Illinois Revised Statutes, chapter 127, sec. 601-101 ff) has required approximately 7,500 state officers or employees or persons seeking state office to file a "statement of economic interest" in the Index Department, Secretary of State's Office. This act requires filing by public officials and employees compensated at a rate of $20,000 per year or more (except for teachers). The form lists eight items on which information is required. Item No. 8, for example, identifies the source of each gift or gifts in excess of $500.

Anybody can inspect any person's statement by signing a request form (a copy of which goes to the individual whose statement was examined). About 400 persons signed requests to examine almost 1,000 statements during the first nine months of 1975.

The governor's order is in addition to the above. It requires the filing with the Governor's Board of Ethics of a detailed five-page "Financial Disclosure Statement," accompanied by copies of the individual's federal and state income tax returns (see August, pp. 240" 242). This applies to agencies responsible to the governor and covers some 12,000 persons—4,500 persons who earn $20,000 a year or more from the state; 7,000 additional persons in "sensitive" positions as defined by the Board; and 500 or so gubernatorial appointees in unpaid or part-time positions on boards or commissions. The statements of these latter 500 are kept confidential; the other forms are open to inspection—but not the income tax returns, which are kept confidential.

A sworn request must be filed to examine these Board of Ethics forms. Since they became available for public inspection June 2, and up to early September, only 34 persons applied to examine almost 600 of these forms.

How useful are these disclosure requirements in protecting the integrity of public personnel? No one knows, at least not yet. Filling out a disclosure form would alert the individual to his or her possible conflicts and may deter some from accepting state posts. Public inspection may also act as a form of policing. Most of the inspections are made by reporters and students, but auditors also look at the forms, especially those filed with the Board of Ethics. With respect to the confidential forms—which nobody but the Board's very small staff screens—it is too early to know what the screening may disclose and what action the Board might take if screening turns up adverse information on an individual. But who is going to report information adverse to himself? It is a good question.

Financial reporting requirements
Financial reporting requirements apply to lobbyists and political committees. Legislative lobbyists must register with the Secretary of State's Index Department. By September, 383 had registered this year. Periodically, lobbyists must file sworn statements of expenditures, but so much is exempt from reporting that it is difficult to see what the statements cover except for drinks, meals, and gifts. The lobbyist is not required to report political campaign contributions to a legislator or legislative candidate, nor his own office, travel or subsistence expenses, nor expenses involved in participating in or attending a meeting of a legislative commission or committee. No formal register is kept of requests to examine such reports, but it is estimated that during a year, several hundred reports are looked at.

Political receipt and expenditure reporting is required by the Illinois Campaign Disclosure Act (P.A. 78-1183) which is administered by the State Board of Elections, and the Federal Election Campaign Acts Amendments of 1974 (P.L. 93-443, 88 Stat. 1263). The latter requires filing with the Illinois secretary of state copies of reports (original report is in Washington) pertaining to federal candidates.

Since October 1, 1974 about 2,000 reports under the Illinois campaign disclosure law have been inspected by an estimated 100 reporters, students, or others. Some 600 of these reports were inspected since August 1. This followed the filing of the first annual reports.

With respect to the federal law, almost 2,000 persons made inspections of the reports during 1974, but for the first nine months of 1975, fewer than 200 persons made inspections. And, no count is available of the number of federal reports inspected by these persons.

The governor signed the Illinois campaign disclosure law September 3, 1974. In its first year, more than 1,000 state political committees or candidates have filed reports./W.L.D. 

376 / Illinois Issues / December 1975