§ 50-35 — Financial disclosure and potential conflicts of interest

(a) All bids and offers from responsive bidders, offerors, vendors, or contractors with an annual value that exceeds the small purchase threshold established under subsection (a) of Section 20-20 of this Code, and all submissions to a vendor portal, shall be accompanied by disclosure of the financial interests of the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, or contractor and each subcontractor to be used. In addition, all subcontracts identified as provided by Section 20-120 of this Code with an annual value that exceeds the small purchase threshold established under subsection (a) of Section 20-20 of this Code shall be accompanied by disclosure of the financial interests of each subcontractor. The financial disclosure of each successful bidder, offeror, potential contractor, or contractor and its subcontractors shall be incorporated as a material term of the contract and shall become part of the publicly available contract or procurement file maintained by the appropriate chief procurement officer. Each disclosure under this Section shall be signed and made under penalty of perjury by an authorized officer or employee on behalf of the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor, and must be filed with the Procurement Policy Board and the Commission on Equity and Inclusion. (b) Disclosure shall include any ownership or distributive income share that is in excess of 5%, or an amount greater than 60% of the annual salary of the Governor, of the disclosing entity or its parent entity, whichever is less, unless the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor (i) is a publicly traded entity subject to Federal 10K reporting, in which case it may submit its 10K disclosure in place of the prescribed disclosure, or (ii) is a privately held entity that is exempt from Federal 10k reporting but has more than 100 shareholders, in which case it may submit the information that Federal 10k reporting companies are required to report under 17 CFR 229.401 and list the names of any person or entity holding any ownership share that is in excess of 5% in place of the prescribed disclosure. The form of disclosure shall be prescribed by the applicable chief procurement officer and must include at least the names, addresses, and dollar or proportionate share of ownership of each person identified in this Section, their instrument of ownership or beneficial relationship, and notice of any potential conflict of interest resulting from the current ownership or beneficial relationship of each individual identified in this Section having in addition any of the following relationships: (1) State employment, currently or in the previous 3 years, including contractual employment of services. (2) State employment of spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter, including contractual employment for services in the previous 2 years. (3) Elective status; the holding of elective office of the State of Illinois, the government of the United States, any unit of local government authorized by the Constitution of the State of Illinois or the statutes of the State of Illinois currently or in the previous 3 years. (4) Relationship to anyone holding elective office currently or in the previous 2 years; spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter. (5) Appointive office; the holding of any appointive government office of the State of Illinois, the United States of America, or any unit of local government authorized by the Constitution of the State of Illinois or the statutes of the State of Illinois, which office entitles the holder to compensation in excess of expenses incurred in the discharge of that office currently or in the previous 3 years. (6) Relationship to anyone holding appointive office currently or in the previous 2 years; spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter. (7) Employment, currently or in the previous 3 years, as or by any registered lobbyist of the State government. (8) Relationship to anyone who is or was a registered lobbyist in the previous 2 years; spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter. (9) Compensated employment, currently or in the previous 3 years, by any registered election or re-election committee registered with the Secretary of State or any county clerk in the State of Illinois, or any political action committee registered with either the Secretary of State or the Federal Board of Elections. (10) Relationship to anyone; spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter; who is or was a compensated employee in the last 2 years of any registered election or re-election committee registered with the Secretary of State or any county clerk in the State of Illinois, or any political action committee registered with either the Secretary of State or the Federal Board of Elections. (b-1) The disclosure required under this Section must also include the name and address of each lobbyist required to register under the Lobbyist Registration Act and other agent of the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor who is not identified under subsections (a) and (b) and who has communicated, is communicating, or may communicate with any State officer or employee concerning the bid or offer. The disclosure under this subsection is a continuing obligation and must be promptly supplemented for accuracy throughout the process and throughout the term of the contract if the bid or offer is successful. (b-2) The disclosure required under this Section must also include, for each of the persons identified in subsection (b) or (b-1), each of the following that occurred within the previous 10 years: suspension or debarment from contracting with any governmental entity; professional licensure discipline; bankruptcies; adverse civil judgments and administrative findings; and criminal felony convictions. The disclosure under this subsection is a continuing obligation and must be promptly supplemented for accuracy throughout the process and throughout the term of the contract if the bid or offer is successful. (c) The disclosure in subsection (b) is not intended to prohibit or prevent any contract. The disclosure is meant to fully and publicly disclose any potential conflict to the chief procurement officers, State purchasing officers, their designees, and executive officers so they may adequately discharge their duty to protect the State. (d) When a potential for a conflict of interest is identified, discovered, or reasonably suspected, the chief procurement officer or State procurement officer shall send the contract to the Procurement Policy Board and the Commission on Equity and Inclusion. In accordance with the objectives of subsection (c), if the Procurement Policy Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion finds evidence of a potential conflict of interest not originally disclosed by the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor, the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion shall provide written notice to the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor that is identified, discovered, or reasonably suspected of having a potential conflict of interest. The bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor shall have 15 calendar days to respond in writing to the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion, and a hearing before the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion will be granted upon request by the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor, at a date and time to be determined by the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion, but which in no event shall occur later than 15 calendar days after the date of the request. Upon consideration, the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion shall recommend, in writing, whether to allow or void the contract, bid, offer, or subcontract weighing the best interest of the State of Illinois. All recommendations shall be submitted to the Executive Ethics Commission. Those recommendations made concerning conflicts identified in the course of a procurement for a public institution of higher education are, for procurements having a cumulative value under $5,000, valid and enforceable, for one calendar year after the initial recommendation was made, for all subsequent conflicts for that vendor with regard to the same public institution of higher education. The Executive Ethics Commission must hold a public hearing within 30 calendar days after receiving the Board's or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion's recommendation if the Procurement Policy Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion makes a recommendation to (i) void a contract or (ii) void a bid or offer and the chief procurement officer selected or intends to award the contract to the bidder, offeror, or potential contractor. A chief procurement officer is prohibited from awarding a contract before a hearing if the Board or the Commission on Equity and Inclusion recommendation does not support a bid or offer. The recommendation and proceedings of any hearing, if applicable, shall be available to the public. (e) These thresholds and disclosure do not relieve the chief procurement officer, the State purchasing officer, or their designees from reasonable care and diligence for any contract, bid, offer, or submission to a vendor portal. The chief procurement officer, the State purchasing officer, or their designees shall be responsible for using any reasonably known and publicly available information to discover any undisclosed potential conflict of interest and act to protect the best interest of the State of Illinois. (f) Inadvertent or accidental failure to fully disclose shall render the contract, bid, offer, proposal, subcontract, or relationship voidable by the chief procurement officer if he or she deems it in the best interest of the State of Illinois and, at his or her discretion, may be cause for barring from future contracts, bids, offers, proposals, subcontracts, or relationships with the State for a period of up to 2 years. (g) Intentional, willful, or material failure to disclose shall render the contract, bid, offer, proposal, subcontract, or relationship voidable by the chief procurement officer if he or she deems it in the best interest of the State of Illinois and shall result in debarment from future contracts, bids, offers, proposals, subcontracts, or relationships for a period of not less than 2 years and not more than 10 years. Reinstatement after 2 years and before 10 years must be reviewed and commented on in writing by the Governor of the State of Illinois, or by an executive ethics board or commission he or she might designate. The comment shall be returned to the responsible chief procurement officer who must rule in writing whether and when to reinstate. (h) In addition, all disclosures shall note any other current or pending contracts, bids, offers, proposals, subcontracts, leases, or other ongoing procurement relationships the bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor, or subcontractor has with any other unit of State government and shall clearly identify the unit and the contract, offer, proposal, lease, or other relationship. (i) The bidder, offeror, potential contractor, or contractor has a continuing obligation to supplement the disclosure required by this Section throughout the bidding process during the term of any contract, and during the vendor portal registration process. (j) If a bid or offer is received from a responsive bidder, offeror, vendor, contractor, or subcontractor with an annual value of more than $100,000 and the bidder, offeror, vendor, contractor, or subcontractor has an active contract with that same entity and already has submitted their financial disclosures and potential conflicts of interest within the last 12 months, the bidder, offeror, vendor, contractor, or subcontractor may submit a signed affidavit attesting that the original submission of its financial disclosures and potential conflicts of interests has not been altered or changed. The form and content of the affidavit shall be prescribed by the applicable chief procurement officer.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 101-657, eff. 1-1-22; 102-721, eff. 1-1-23; 102-1119, eff. 1-23-23.)