Vaught said Ezike did not improperly negotiate for the Sinai CEO position while she was in state office. WBEZ also reported that day that "the Sinai board of directors has been authorized to negotiate an offer with Ezike." It's unclear if she has accepted the offer." Sinai Chicago gave an offer to Ezike for the top role in February, according to a Crain's source. On March 4, while Ezike was still IDPH Director, Crain's Chicago Business reported that Ezike "has been offered a job as the next President and CEO of Sinai. Government records and news accounts suggest Sinai was already talking with Ezike about the CEO position. Discussions beyond a salary range were prohibited, Rosen wrote.
Rosen's summary of the law added that Ezike could engage in "informational interviews" that discuss employment and the salary range. "She wasn't directly involved in awarding the grant." "I would say it's an interpretation,'' Vaught said. "They're statutorily mandated grants, not contracts subject to the revolving door provision in the ethics act." "I think that's boilerplate language required by the comptroller," Vaught said of the word 'contract' on every page of the documents. Vaught said these grant agreements do not qualify as contracts under the state's revolving door law. The funds were for the Hospital Health Protection Grant Program and the Asthma State Plan, among other programs. And the grant agreements bear Ezike's signature. The word "contract" is on the footer of every page. The BGA investigation examined government emails and contract documents that raise questions about Ezike's swift move to a company intricately involved with her agency.įrom March 16, 2021, until the end of Ezike's tenure as director a year later, the Illinois Department of Public Health awarded five grants to Sinai Health totaling $2,160,803, according to documents provided to the BGA by the state comptroller.Įach of the five grant agreements are labeled "CONTRACT" in bold type on the first page. "She is an incredibly ethical person and had multiple people review this," Vaught said. Ezike consulted with the appropriate people, and she engaged counsel to provide assistance to her with her transition from the state, and she was advised that it was permissible to accept employment with Sinai," Vaught said. I absolutely believe that someone has to ask them," Vaught told the BGA. "I understand the legitimacy of the questions.
Vaught until 2018 was counsel for 11 years to former Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, who was a powerful voice in shaping the language of the revolving door law and other state legislation during the past 40 years. That's part of the problem with Illinois' law. "From a legal perspective, it's not clear cut. Ezike violated the revolving door," said Heather Wier Vaught. One of her attorneys told the BGA Ezike's new position was not subject to the state's revolving door law because the more than $2 million in grant agreements Ezike signed with Sinai were not "contracts." "Let me have your contact information and I can have them reach out to you," Ezike said. Instead she said the BGA would get a call from her attorney. The Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General opened an ethics investigation of Ezike amid inquiries by the Better Government Association.Ĭontacted by telephone, Ezike - once a fixture in daily media - declined to be interviewed. The law is designed to prevent the cozy revolving door between state officials and the companies their agencies fund and regulate.
And while in office they cannot engage in job negotiations with companies that lobby their agencies. The Illinois Ethics Act requires department heads like Ezike to wait a year before accepting positions with companies that hold contracts overseen by their departments, or with companies their departments license or regulate.