State of Illinois expands lobbyist registration requirements: clients lobbying local government now required to register

The turn of the new year brought sweeping new changes to the State of Illinois’s lobbyist registration requirements.  Effective January 1, 2022, the State of Illinois now requires lobbyists and their clients lobbying at the local level to register with the Illinois Secretary of State.  (The changes exempt lobbying the City of Chicago, which is covered by its own local lobbying registration and reporting program.)

Clients who engage with local officials – including elected and appointed municipal, county and township officials and commissioners, whether directly or through hired consultants – are required to register under the changes.  The registration deadline is January 31.

The changes also expand the definition of lobbying to include soliciting others to lobby and require registered entities to identify “consultants” who provide advice regarding lobbying strategies, even if they are not themselves engaging in lobbying activity.  The new law additionally extends the prohibition on contingency fees to consultants, even if consultants are not directly lobbying. 

For more information about the new State of Illinois lobbyist registration requirements, contact any of the members of the Land Use, Development and Government Relations practice at DLA Piper:

Mariah F. DiGrino
Rich Klawiter
Paul W. Shadle
Katie Jahnke Dale
Ben Quarless