Illinois politicians’ pockets deepen with new law removing contribution caps

Ahead of the Nov. 5 election in Illinois, state lawmakers approved a measure that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law that contains multiple provisions affecting elections. One of them affects how parties can spend campaign money.

The law allows political parties, such as the Illinois Democratic Party and the Illinois House Republican Organization, to funnel an unlimited amount of campaign money into candidates’ campaign funds for both primary and general elections. State Rep. Maurice West, D-Chicago, introduced the bill in the House, and state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, opposed the measure.

“Weren’t they (political parties) powerful enough before?” Wilhour asked.

“We’re not making them powerful,” West said.

“Money is power,” Wilhour said.

“There is no limit in the general election and this (bill) also equalizes that with the primary elections,” West said.

Prior to House Bill 4488, limits on campaign contributions only applied to primaries. Now, both primary and general election candidates can receive unlimited funds from their political parties.

State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, questioned West on the House floor.

“With unlimited contributions to primary campaigns, does that apply to all candidates, such as those running for the Illinois Supreme Court?” Caulkins asked.

“Yes, sir,” West said. “They can receive unlimited campaign contributions from the party alone.”

The law comes into force immediately.

Also this legislative session, West supported a stand-alone election bill, Senate Bill 2412, that changed the rules for selecting candidates to fill vacancies. That law is currently under review by the Illinois Supreme Court. Candidates, including Leslie Collazo, filed a lawsuit challenging Illinois’ hastily amended election law.

HB 4488 was originally going to establish a Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, but was later dismantled and replaced with an omnibus election bill. SB 2412 was originally a child welfare bill, but was dismantled and replaced to be the slate change.

Reform for Illinois said they are disappointed that the omnibus bill does not address urgent needs like requiring disclosure of deepfake election communications. Executive Director Alisa Kaplan said this omission means Illinois voters will lack essential tools to distinguish fact from fiction.

“So there were bipartisan concerns and there were obvious concerns for democracy and our elections, but somehow it didn’t get passed,” Kaplan said. “It was supposed to address misleading election communications generated by artificial intelligence, i.e. deepfakes. It wouldn’t have banned the use of misleading communications, it would have just required disclosure about them. The idea was that voters would know what they were seeing.”

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said it was investigating reports of an alleged robocall that used artificial intelligence to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice to tell voters not to show up to the polls for the primary election.

While it did not address the issue of deepfakes, the Illinois omnibus bill did address how candidates fund their campaigns.

State Rep. Kevin Schmidt, R-Cahokia Heights, voted against the measure in the House.

“Unlimited funding in primaries really only benefits the establishment and doesn’t give newcomers a fair shake,” Schmidt said.

Reform for Illinois said removing limits on party contributions is a significant move that reflects party leaders’ intent to gain more control over primary elections, which are often the only meaningful contests in a state with many uncontested districts across the state.