Pay-to-Play Spotlight: One Pay-to-Play Law Down, Many More to Go

After years of ever increasing pay-to-play laws, government contractors and potential contractors received one reprieve in the past month. 

In late August, the DuPage County Board in Illinois rescinded one part of its pay-to-play rules.  According to the minutes of the board meeting, the board eliminated the county's pay-to-play contribution limits because members felt that the state's campaign finance law passed two years earlier had covered the field and preempted a locality without home-rule powers from enacting any campaign finance laws to the contrary.  Although arguments about this preemption went both ways, the board in the end decided to do away with the county restrictions—which had extended contribution limits to executives and family members, among others.  The county retained its broad and far-reaching pre-contract pay-to-play reporting requirements.