Section 1400.5035  Disclosure of Financial Interests and Potential Conflicts of Interest

a)         All offers from responsive offerors with an annual value of more than the small purchase threshold then in effect pursuant to Section 1400.2020(a) must be accompanied by disclosure of the financial interests of the offeror. The financial disclosure of each successful offeror must be made part of the procurement. Disclosures are not required for sole source and emergency contracts, but shall be obtained in whole or in part when practical and when the annual value exceeds the small purchase threshold then in effect pursuant to Section 1400.2020(a).

b)         Disclosure by the offerors must 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 offering entity or its parent entity ("parent entity" meaning an entity that owns 100% of the bidding entity), whichever is less, unless the offeror:

1)         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:  

2)         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.

3)         The Chief Procurement Officer will prescribe the form, which 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 person identified in this Section having, in addition, any of the following relationships:

A)        State employment, currently or in the previous 3 years, including contractual employment services.

B)        State employment of spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter, including contractual employment for services in the previous 2 years.

C)        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.

D)        Relationship to anyone holding elective offices currently or in the previous 2 years:  spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter.

E)        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.

F)         Relationship to anyone holding appointive office currently or in the previous 2 years:  spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter.

G)        Employment, currently or in the previous 3 years, as or by any registered lobbyist of the State government.

H)        Relationship to anyone who is or was a registered lobbyist in the previous 2 years; spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter.

I)         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.

J)         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.

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 fully and publicly to the Chief Procurement Officer, 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 of Staff shall review and comment on it in writing.  The Chief of Staff shall provide his comment to the Chief Procurement Officer who must determine in writing whether to void or allow the contract, bid, proposal or response weighing the best interest of the State of Illinois.  The comment and determination must be part of the procurement file.

e)         These thresholds and disclosure do not relieve the Chief Procurement Officer, Purchasing Officers, or their designees from reasonable care and diligence for any contract, bid, proposal or response.  The Chief Procurement Officer, Purchasing Officers, or their designees shall use 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 make any disclosure required by this Section will render the contract, bid, proposal, response 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, proposals, responses or relationships with the State for a period of up to 2 years.

g)         Intentional, willful or material failure to make any disclosure required by this Section will render the contract, bid, proposal, response or relationship voidable by the Chief Procurement Officer if he or she deems it to be in the best interest of the State of Illinois and will result in suspension from future contracts, bids, proposals, responses 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 Chief of Staff.  The Chief of Staff must provide the review to the Chief Procurement Officer who must rule in writing whether and when to reinstate. The comment and determination must be part of the procurement file.

h)         In addition, all disclosures must note any other current or pending contracts, leases, bids, proposals, responses or other ongoing procurement relationships the bidding, proposing, or responding entity has with any other unit of State government and must clearly identify the unit and the contract, lease, bid, proposal, response or other relationship.

i)          The contractor or bidder has a continuing obligation to supplement the disclosure required by this Section throughout the bidding process or during the term of any contract.  [30 ILCS 500/50-35(i)]

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.  [30 ILCS 500/50-35(j)]

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 2924, effective February 7, 2024)