104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2238 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new10 ILCS 5/9-23.510 ILCS 5/9-55 new Amends the Election Code. Provides that, if a political committee lends or donates funds to another political committee while the lending or donating political committee has knowledge that a civil penalty will be assessed by the State Board of Elections, but prior to being served formal notice of that civil penalty, the officers of the lending or donating political committee shall be jointly and severally personally liable to the extent allowed by law for payment of the civil penalty to the extent of the funds loaned or given. Provides that the Board shall maintain a record of all official correspondence between the Board and all political committees concerning enforcement actions, including, but not limited to, records of official notices of imposed civil penalties. Provides that the Board may dissolve any political committee that fails to pay a civil penalty imposed by the Board within 6 months after being served official notice of the penalty by certified mail. LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2238 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new10 ILCS 5/9-23.510 ILCS 5/9-55 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new Amends the Election Code. Provides that, if a political committee lends or donates funds to another political committee while the lending or donating political committee has knowledge that a civil penalty will be assessed by the State Board of Elections, but prior to being served formal notice of that civil penalty, the officers of the lending or donating political committee shall be jointly and severally personally liable to the extent allowed by law for payment of the civil penalty to the extent of the funds loaned or given. Provides that the Board shall maintain a record of all official correspondence between the Board and all political committees concerning enforcement actions, including, but not limited to, records of official notices of imposed civil penalties. Provides that the Board may dissolve any political committee that fails to pay a civil penalty imposed by the Board within 6 months after being served official notice of the penalty by certified mail. LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2238 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new10 ILCS 5/9-23.510 ILCS 5/9-55 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new Amends the Election Code. Provides that, if a political committee lends or donates funds to another political committee while the lending or donating political committee has knowledge that a civil penalty will be assessed by the State Board of Elections, but prior to being served formal notice of that civil penalty, the officers of the lending or donating political committee shall be jointly and severally personally liable to the extent allowed by law for payment of the civil penalty to the extent of the funds loaned or given. Provides that the Board shall maintain a record of all official correspondence between the Board and all political committees concerning enforcement actions, including, but not limited to, records of official notices of imposed civil penalties. Provides that the Board may dissolve any political committee that fails to pay a civil penalty imposed by the Board within 6 months after being served official notice of the penalty by certified mail. LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b A BILL FOR SB2238LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b 1 AN ACT concerning elections. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing 5 Section 9-23.5 and by adding Sections Section 9-23.1 and 9-55 6 as follows: 7 (10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new) 8 Sec. 9-23.1. Personal liability. If a political committee 9 lends or donates funds to another political committee while 10 the lending or donating political committee has knowledge that 11 a civil penalty will be assessed by the State Board of 12 Elections, but prior to being served formal notice of that 13 civil penalty, the officers of the lending or donating 14 political committee shall be jointly and severally personally 15 liable to the extent allowed by law for payment of the civil 16 penalty to the extent of the funds loaned or given. 17 (10 ILCS 5/9-23.5) 18 Sec. 9-23.5. Public database of founded complaints and 19 official enforcement correspondence. The State Board of 20 Elections shall establish and maintain on its official website 21 a searchable database, freely accessible to the public, of 22 each complaint filed with the Board under this Article with 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB2238 Introduced 2/7/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new10 ILCS 5/9-23.510 ILCS 5/9-55 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new Amends the Election Code. Provides that, if a political committee lends or donates funds to another political committee while the lending or donating political committee has knowledge that a civil penalty will be assessed by the State Board of Elections, but prior to being served formal notice of that civil penalty, the officers of the lending or donating political committee shall be jointly and severally personally liable to the extent allowed by law for payment of the civil penalty to the extent of the funds loaned or given. Provides that the Board shall maintain a record of all official correspondence between the Board and all political committees concerning enforcement actions, including, but not limited to, records of official notices of imposed civil penalties. Provides that the Board may dissolve any political committee that fails to pay a civil penalty imposed by the Board within 6 months after being served official notice of the penalty by certified mail. LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b A BILL FOR 10 ILCS 5/9-23.1 new 10 ILCS 5/9-23.5 10 ILCS 5/9-55 new LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238- 2 -LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 - 2 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 - 2 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b 1 respect to which Board action was taken, including all Board 2 actions and penalties imposed, if any. The Board shall also 3 maintain a record of all official correspondence between the 4 Board and all political committees concerning enforcement 5 actions, including, but not limited to, records of official 6 notices of imposed civil penalties. The Board must update the 7 database within 5 business days after an action is taken or a 8 penalty is imposed to include that complaint, action, or 9 penalty in the database. 10 (Source: P.A. 103-600, eff. 7-1-24.) 11 (10 ILCS 5/9-55 new) 12 Sec. 9-55. Dissolution of political action committees. The 13 Board may dissolve any political committee that fails to pay a 14 civil penalty imposed by the State Board of Elections within 6 15 months after being served official notice of the penalty by 16 certified mail. The notice may also be sent electronically by 17 the Board, in addition to being sent by certified mail, and 18 posted publicly to the public database described in Section 19 9-23.5. If a political committee appeals the decision of the 20 Board, the Board holds hearings on the matter, or a court 21 action is ongoing regarding the matter, the 6-month period 22 shall be paused for the duration of the action and continued 23 once the action has concluded. If a political committee is 24 dissolved by the Board under this Section, the Board shall 25 follow the procedures described in Section 9-5, except the SB2238 - 2 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238- 3 -LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 - 3 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 - 3 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b SB2238 - 3 - LRB104 09175 SPS 19231 b