The Public Work Act extends public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), disclosure of city purchasing, and lobbying registration to every organization doing public work for Chicago, not just city employees. It closes gaps that let millions of dollars in free (pro bono) consulting and public duties handed to outside groups operate with no public accountability.
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PART OF THE NEW BURNHAM PLAN
ABATE
The Public Work Act
You should be able to see who shapes what the city does, not just who the city pays.
Consultants and nonprofits doing public work for Chicago, paid or free, come under the same open-records and disclosure rules as the city.
Chicago has a real tradition of businesses, foundations, universities and nonprofits helping the city, often for free. That's worth keeping. But none of it runs through the tools we use to hold government accountable. Free (pro bono) consulting leaves no record in the city's purchasing system. A private group designing city policy isn't covered by open-records law for that work. People move between City Hall and those groups without disclosing anything.
Starting on day one, the same rules get extended to that work, whether it's paid, free or foundation-funded. Anyone giving the city $100,000 or more a year in consulting registers it on a public, searchable list. Groups that design city policy register the way lobbyists do. Moves between City Hall and those groups get disclosed. Work that would be public if a city employee did it becomes open to records requests too, with the same exemptions.
And we rebuild the city's own in-house expertise: a Strategy Office, a Public Service Corps that brings professionals into city government, and more city planners. The goal is 40% less outside consulting in five years, so the city keeps its own know-how and future mayors aren't stuck relying on outside help.
WHAT IT WON'T DO
It doesn't ban pro bono help or philanthropy. It asks everyone who shapes a public decision to follow the rules everyone else already follows.
It doesn't touch the food pantry or the shelter. Foundations that fund direct services are outside it.
It isn't retroactive. Existing arrangements get listed and disclosed, and the new rules apply going forward.
It doesn't stop anyone from changing jobs. Former city employees can go to work for these groups. For 24 months, they just can't work on projects with their old department.
How it connects
Nothing in this plan works alone. These are the questions people ask next, and the policies that answer them.
What else happens out of public view? Honest Government takes away the city decisions that can be sold, and TIF Abolition winds down the districts that send property tax growth to development deals instead of schools, parks and city services.
Honest Government →
TIF Abolition →
Who tracks whether the work gets done? The Mayor's Delivery Unit, a small team in the mayor's office, tracks every commitment and publishes a progress report every quarter.
Mayor's Delivery Unit →
Who owns what the city produces? The Public Assets Protection Act keeps city assets in city hands, and data the city produces belongs to the city.
Public Assets Protection Act (PAPA) →
FISCAL IMPACT
Investment Cost
RENOVATION STEP
Abate
SHOW THE FULL POLICY DETAILS
01
Where it ranks
HOW WE DELIVER IT · RUN IT
#4 of 4
RUN IT
30 / 100
Enables
Scale
Long-term
PROMISING It shows the public who shapes city decisions, including outside groups doing public work for the city, and it rebuilds the city's own staff so the city relies less on consultants. Disclosure starts on Day 1 but residents don't feel it directly. Extending the Freedom of Information Act to those outside groups may need a state law.
See all the priorities
How I set them
02
How it works
Open records follow the work
When the city hands a government job to an outside organization (a delegated governmental function), the records of that work become open to public-records requests too, with the same exemptions, if they would be open had a city employee done the work. The test is the job being done, not who does it. The idea is adapted from Oregon's public-records law.
Register pro bono consulting
Any organization giving the city consulting, strategy or analysis worth $100,000 or more a year, whether paid, pro bono (done for free) or donated, registers it with the City Clerk within 30 days. The registration lists the project, its scope, what will be delivered, the staff, who's paying, the estimated value and any related interests. The registry is public, searchable and updated at least quarterly.
Policy designers register like lobbyists
Organizations that design policy, manage programs or support implementation for city agencies register in a public registry modeled on the city's lobbyist registry, whatever their tax status. The rule only requires them to register. It doesn't restrict the work.
Revolving door
When people move between city government, the outside organizations doing the city's government work and the foundations that fund those organizations, in either direction, the move is disclosed within 30 days. For 24 months, former city employees can take those jobs but can't work on projects with their old department. (Separately, the Public Assets Protection Act bars cashing in on city work or data for three years.)
Who pays for court-ordered work
When a private funder pays for work the city owes under a consent decree or other court order, the arrangement is disclosed to the court, the independent monitor and the public. The Clerk also publishes a yearly list of overlapping board seats, and past pro bono work is noted on the record when the same group bids for paid work in the same area within five years.
Rebuild the city's own staff
A new Chicago Strategy Office inside the Mayor's Office has 20 to 30 city employees in Year 1 and 40 to 50 by Year 3, and it handles transitions, big federal grants and reorganizations. Its chief is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by Council. A Chicago Public Service Corps, modeled on the federal Presidential Management Fellows program, places 30 to 50 professionals in Year 1 and 100 or more by Year 3. The Department of Planning and Development adds 25 planners in Year 1 and 60 by Year 5.
Limits on relying on outside help
Any new initiative of $5 million or more needs a plan for the city staff who will run it and can't rely on outside consultants for more than five years. The target is 40% less outside consulting in five years, set department by department. In key offices, no position is cut until a trained successor is hired.
What it doesn't touch
Nothing here bans pro bono work or philanthropy. Foundations that fund direct services, like food pantries or shelters, are outside it. It isn't retroactive: existing arrangements are listed and disclosed, and the new rules apply going forward.
03
What it costs
Chicago Strategy Office (20–30 staff)
$3.5–5.5M
Chicago Public Service Corps (30–50 placements)
$3.3–5.5M
Planning and Development (25 planners)
$3.5–4.5M
City Clerk registries and staff
$0.75–1.25M
Inventory of existing consulting arrangements (one-time)
$0.5–1.0M
Legal and administrative work for the executive orders
$0.4–0.75M
Year 1 cost before any savings
$12–18.5M
Costs grow to an estimated $18–24 million a year by Year 5 as the offices reach full size. Savings from using fewer outside consultants aren't counted.
04
What it takes to make it happen
MAYOR
Issue executive orders requiring disclosure of pro bono and donated consulting, the cooling-off period for mayoral appointees, and transparency for government work handed to outside organizations. Create the Strategy Office. Direct the Budget Director to inventory every outside consulting arrangement.
CITY COUNCIL
Pass the Public Work Ordinance (the open-records extension, the registries and revolving-door disclosure). Fund the Strategy Office, the Public Service Corps and the new planners. Confirm the Chief Strategy Officer. Adopt the $5 million capacity rule (any new initiative of $5 million or more needs a plan for the city staff who will run it).
CITY CLERK
Run the public registries.
SPRINGFIELD
No new state law is needed.
VOTERS
No referendum is needed.
05
Timeline
DAY ONE
The executive orders requiring disclosure take effect for new consulting arrangements. The Strategy Office is created. The inventory of outside consulting begins.
FIRST 30 DAYS
The Public Service Corps is announced; the first group starts around Month 6.
FIRST 90 DAYS
The Public Work Ordinance goes to City Council.
WITHIN 12 MONTHS
The inventory of outside consulting is done and published as the baseline for measuring the cut in outside consulting.
YEAR 2
The $5 million capacity rule is adopted by ordinance for new initiatives.
06
Where it's worked
Chicago today
One civic group, the Civic Consulting Alliance, reports it delivered more than $34 million in pro bono consulting to the city across 127 projects with 41 partner firms during the Lightfoot administration, including the mayoral transition and federal recovery-fund work.
SOURCE: CIVIC CONSULTING ALLIANCE, MAY 16, 2023 ↗
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Illinois
State open-records law already treats records held by a party the city has contracted with to perform a governmental function as public records. The Illinois Supreme Court has said that rule exists so governments can't contract their way out of disclosure. It doesn't clearly reach unpaid work.
SOURCE: REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, ILLINOIS OPEN GOVERNMENT GUIDE ↗
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Oregon
Oregon's Supreme Court set a six-factor test in 1994 for when a private group counts as a public body under records law, looking at things like whether it does work government usually does and how much government funds and controls it. In that case, the court found the private team was not covered.
SOURCE: REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, OREGON OPEN GOVERNMENT GUIDE ↗
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Sources
Civic Consulting Alliance, May 16, 2023
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Illinois open government guide
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Oregon open government guide
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