(10 ILCS 5/9-35)

Sec. 9-35. Registration of business entities.

(a) This Section governs the procedures for the registration required under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code.

For the purposes of this Section, the terms "officeholder", "State contract", "business entity", "State agency", "affiliated entity", and "affiliated person" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in Section 50-37 of the Illinois Procurement Code.

(b) Registration under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code, and any changes to that registration, must be made electronically, and the State Board of Elections by rule shall provide for electronic registration; except that the State Board may adopt emergency rules providing for a temporary filing system, effective through August 1, 2009, under which business entities must file the required registration forms provided by the Board via e-mail attachment in a PDF file or via another type of mail service and must receive from the State Board registration certificates via e-mail or paper registration certificates. The State Board shall retain the registrations submitted by business entities via e-mail or another type of mail service for at least 6 months following the establishment of the electronic registration system required by this subsection.

Each registration must contain substantially the following:

(1) The name and address of the business entity.

(2) The name and address of any affiliated entity of the business entity, including a description of the affiliation.

(3) The name and address of any affiliated person of the business entity, including a description of the affiliation.

(c) The Board shall provide a certificate of registration to the business entity. The certificate shall be electronic, except as otherwise provided in this Section, and accessible to the business entity through the State Board of Elections' website and protected by a password. Within 60 days after establishment of the electronic system, each business entity that submitted a registration via e-mail attachment or paper copy pursuant to this Section shall re-submit its registration electronically. At the time of re-submission, the State Board of Elections shall provide an electronic certificate of registration to that business entity.

(d) Any business entity required to register under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code shall provide a copy of the registration certificate, by first class mail or hand delivery within 10 days after registration, to each affiliated entity or affiliated person whose identity is required to be disclosed. Failure to provide notice to an affiliated entity or affiliated person is a business offense for which the business entity is subject to a fine not to exceed $1,001.

(e) In addition to any penalty under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code, intentional, willful, or material failure to disclose information required for registration is subject to a civil penalty imposed by the State Board of Elections. The State Board shall impose a civil penalty of $1,000 per business day for failure to update a registration.

(f) Any business entity required to register under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code shall notify any political committee to which it makes a contribution, at the time of the contribution, that the business entity is registered with the State Board of Elections under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code. Any affiliated entity or affiliated person of a business entity required to register under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code shall notify any political committee to which it makes a contribution that it is affiliated with a business entity registered with the State Board of Elections under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code.

(g) The State Board of Elections on its official website shall have a searchable database containing (i) all information required to be submitted to the Board under Section 20-160 of the Illinois Procurement Code and (ii) all reports filed under this Article with the State Board of Elections by all political committees. For the purposes of databases maintained by the State Board of Elections, "searchable" means able to search by "political committee", as defined in this Article, and by "officeholder", "State agency", "business entity", "affiliated entity", and "affiliated person". The Board shall not place the name of a minor child on the website. However, the Board shall provide a link to all contributions made by anyone reporting the same residential address as any affiliated person. In addition, the State Board of Elections on its official website shall provide an electronic connection to any searchable database of State contracts maintained by the Comptroller, searchable by business entity.

(h) The State Board of Elections shall have rulemaking authority to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 95-971, eff. 1-1-09; 95-1038, eff. 3-11-09.)