Assessing pay to play

Last fall, the Cook County Board of Commissioners responded to concerns that some county-wide officials were funding their campaigns with overly generous contributions from people with business before them by passing a new ordinance to regulate giving to candidates for certain offices. Among those covered by the new ordinance was Joe Berrios, then a member of the Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals, and a candidate for Cook County Assessor, which sets property tax assessments. Berrios has raised hundreds of thousands from attorneys who handle tax appeals.  

Berrios won the election, and is now challenging the new ordinance, which prohibits lawyers who handle property tax appeals from giving to candidates for Assessor or Board of Review.

The prohibition didn't have much effect on Berrios. Many of the attorneys who were barred from giving to Berrios found their way to the Hispanic Political Committee of Illinois, which formed in August of 2010 and raised over $200K in the last four months of the year. Of that, they gave $165K to Berrios on November 4, two days after the 2010 General Election.

But Berrios is still chafing at the restriction, and wants the ordinance repealed. He argues, and the Cook County State's Attorney agrees, that the County lacks the legal ability to limit giving to candidates for Assessor or Board of Review.

We're not wading into that argument. Local governments have regulated some giving to candidates, largely through their procurement standards, and this rule could stand as well. But we would point out that the General Assembly would certainly have the ability to regulate giving to certain offices around the state, and would be on a more certain footing than just about anything a county would do.

The practice of raising campaign money from people who depend on your favor for their livelihood is deeply troubling. Candidates who rely on such fundraising for the bulk of their campaign money appear to have both a conflict of interest in their duties and an unfair advantage over challengers. If there is concern that Cook County can't address concerns about shakedowns in giving to certain county officers, then the legislature could resolve this by enacting a bill to set standards in state law.