The Daily Herald reported that last Tuesday suburban Chicago DuPage County repealed previously adopted county-specific pay-to-play rules. In 2010, DuPage County enacted a county ordinance prohibiting any “officer,” including county board members, from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions in excess of $1,000 from any person or entity seeking an official action or doing business with DuPage County. Now DuPage County officers and candidates are simply required to comply with relevant Illinois state law. The change took place because the DuPage County States Attorney recently opined that the DuPage County Board lacked the authority to impose rules stricter than state law. “The state has set the limits (and) has not given a non-home rule entity authority to enact anything more restrictive or less restrictive,” First Assistant State’s Attorney Nancy Wolfe said.
Yet another reminder that the pay-to-play landscape is ever changing.