HB4327 - Illinois Clean Elections Act Summary

• Establishes a voluntary public financing system for campaigns of candidates running for statewide constitutional offices (Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, State Comptroller) and General Assembly positions, effective for elections beginning in 2019.

• Creates the Illinois Clean Elections Fund funded by $40 million in annual income tax revenues (beginning January 1, 2019), qualifying contributions of $5 per registered voter, individual tax return checkoffs of $3, and other sources including unspent campaign funds and voluntary donations.

• Participating candidates must collect qualifying contributions equal to petition signature requirements for their office during designated periods, limit seed money contributions ($50,000 for Governor; $25,000 for statewide offices; $10,000 for State Senate; $5,000 for State House), and accept no other contributions after certification.

• Sets specific fund distributions to certified candidates based on election type and office, with matching funds available up to 2 times the initial distribution if opponents spend more, and reduces distributions by 40% for uncontested races.

• Imposes fines up to $10,000 per violation and requires candidates to return unspent fund revenues; willful violations are business offenses with fines of $1,001 to $5,000.