Revolving Door Decisions

In 21-EEC-005, the EEC defined “regulatory” decisions in this case as those “relating to the activity whether a business is working according to official rules or laws.” The EEC concluded that IEPA inspections where an employee gathered evidence that could lead to an enforcement action were regulatory in nature. In general, regulatory activities covered by the Revolving Door provisions could include audits, inspections, issuing permits, or adjudications.

In 22-EEC-001, an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency employee involved with the renewal of permits appealed an OEIG restricted determination relating to a regulatory decision. In his appeal, the employee argued that his substantive work was “merely compiling data from various sources, such as rules and other permits, and putting the pertinent information into the permit.” The EEC looked to federal law interpreting the term “substantial” as being involvement that is “direct, extensive, and substantive” as opposed to only “peripheral, clerical, or formal.” In upholding the OEIG determination, the EEC concluded that the employee “engaged in substantive research and a highly technical analysis of federal rules and regulations and other permits that he used in drafting the permit’s terms and conditions.”   

An Illinois Department of Transportation employee appealed the OEIG’s determination to restrict her prospective employment with an engineering firm that had contracted with IDOT to provide its professional services in connection with a bridge construction project. In her appeal, the employee argued that her work was “ministerial” and that she did not initiate the change orders or have the authority to finally approve them. The EEC explained “substantial participation” as being when “the involvement is of significance to the matter and can occur when, for example, the employee participates through the making of recommendations, investigating, or rendering advice.” The EEC agreed that the employee was restricted.

In 2022, the term “fiscal administration” was added to the Revolving Door provision relating to contracting decisions. In 23-EEC-001, the EEC also defined “fiscal administration” as “things such as making sure services are provided as contracted, billing conforms to contractual requirements, and payments are made at agreed upon rates and times and within contractual limits.”

In 24-EEC-003, the EEC upheld an OEIG restriction based on Illinois State Board of Education employee’s participation in the renewal of educational service grants to his prospective employer. As it had in other cases, the EEC emphasized that for an employee to be “personally and substantially” involved in a decision does not mean the employee has to initiate the process be the final decision-maker. Importantly, this is an example where the EEC considered grants as types of contracts for purposes of the Revolving Door analysis.

In 26-EEC-001, an Illinois Department of Transportation employee sought to work for a company that had been contracted with to perform real estate negotiations, relocation, and appraisal consulting services. As it has explained in other decisions, the EEC stated that “[e]ven a single act of participating in a critical step may be substantial. An employee’s participation can still be personal and substantial even if someone else initiates a process and yet another person makes a final decision.” The EEC emphasized the critical point that if the employee had opined that her prospective employer “could not handle the workload or the prices were not in line with what the district had historically accepted, it likely would have changed the outcome and led to those jobs being assigned to [the other company] or an IDOT employee.”