Illinois

A misguided disclosure system in which lobbyists file a lot of reports about little or nothing. Every two weeks they’re required to report minor expenditures like meals, but they never have to disclose their salaries, which comprise more than 90% of spending by fossil fuel companies and other interests.

The City of Chicago shares lobbyist Bill Filan with British Petroleum, one of six fossil fuel companies the city is suing for deceiving Chicago consumers about the climate dangers associated with their products, according to research by F Minus. The city’s pension fund shares the lobbying firm of Phelps Barry & Associates with Phillips 66, another company named in the suit. Phelps Barry also represents the University of Illinois, which has come under increasing pressure to divest from fossil fuels.

A total of 71 Illinois lobbyists simultaneously represented fossil fuel companies and clients being negatively impacted by the climate crisis, according to F Minus research from Dec. 2023. Phelps Barry lobbied on behalf of five fossil fuel clients overall, including Knight Hawk Coal and the coal-fired Prairie State Generating Station, which was one of the country’s top polluters in 2023. Exposure to coal plant pollution and coal ash has been linked to health problems such as asthma, heart attacks, and cancer; and yet Phelps Barry also represents nine health care clients including the Illinois Health & Hospital Association.

The Illinois Environmental Council, which warns against the ecological impacts of fracking for gas, shares lobbyist Christopher Dunn with Calpine, the largest operator of gas-fired power plants in the country.

Best feature: site can generate a list showing the total value of lobbyist expenditures made for the benefit of individual legislators.

Worst feature: lobbyist expenditure reports don’t include the beneficiaries of these expenditures.

Additional Findings

Illinois and Georgia have the most backwards disclosure schemes of any state, as they require bimonthly disclosure of small expenses like gifts and meals, but do not require disclosure of compensation, which comprisis more than 90% of all client spending. Illinois has a separate lobbyist search function from its lobbyist registry, with the search function housed on the IL Secretary of State’s site and the registry housed on the Illinois Data Portal. The Secretary of State’s site is much easier to find, though the search function is limited. It’s possible to search by a handful of different criteria including lobbyist, client, consultants, expenditures, and type of public office. It’s also possible to select a year to search, and it’s possible to view all results without entering a search field. It’s also possible to partial search. Though the search tool is fairly intuitive, for some reason there’s no way to search non-exclusive lobbyists. Each lobbyist listed on the Lobbyist Information Search page only represents one client. It’s also not possible to download full results from this search.

Through the Illinois Data Portal, there’s a dynamic list of lobbyists and their clients, uploaded daily. There are a few different datasets to choose from, including entity subject matter, client data, consultant data, and non-compliance data. It’s possible to both preview and download full results. It’s also an option to customize datasets based on a certain field – including active/terminated status. Lobbying firm information is also available for nearly all entries. The download itself is very simple and neatly organized in CSV format. Overall, the Illinois lobbyist reporting system is clear, with the Illinois Data Portal information proving much more useful than the search tool on the Secretary of State’s site. It’s unfortunately more difficult to find, but a decent system that’s updated daily.