Illinois House Speaker Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch has taken campaign money from individuals and interest groups that could benefit from his decision-making in Springfield \u2014 including contributions from lobbyists, businesses and unions.<\/p>\n
The Hillside Democrat also has a charity that\u2019s gotten backing from some of the same interests, though with less transparency regarding who his charity has gotten its money from, records show.<\/p>\n
Welch helped launch Black Excellence in Bleu<\/a> last year as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) not-for-profit organization. <\/p>\n In March, it held a downtown event dubbed \u201cWomen in Power\u201d that honored women in politics and government and drew political players who have an interest in matters before the General Assembly that Welch helps lead.<\/p>\n A photo on the group\u2019s website shows Welch shaking hands at the event with Charles Wu, who runs a hemp industry trade group that has successfully fought against proposals to regulate its widely available products in Illinois.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought a ticket, I think it was $200,\u201d Wu says. \u201cIt seems like it was for a great cause. I don\u2019t think I even talked to the speaker about the hemp issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Wu says he\u2019s friends with the son of former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, one of the women who was honored.<\/p>\n Green Thumb, a player in the rival cannabis industry that has pushed for greater regulation of hemp, is listed as a \u201csponsor\u201d of Welch\u2019s organization, whose chief executive officer is TaQuoya McConnico, who also is the treasurer of his People for Emanuel Chris Welch and Democrats for the Illinois House campaign funds.<\/p>\n Past \u201cWomen in Power\u201d events organized by Welch in 2023 and 2024 served as fundraisers for the Illinois House Democrats campaign fund.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not political in any way,\u201d Welch says of his charity. \u201cThis money can\u2019t be spent politically in any way, and the funds are completely separate from what we do politically.<\/p>\n \u201cIn politics, a donation gets the donor nothing but an investment in good government. And a donor to a nonprofit like this only gets an investment in something good.\u201d<\/p>\n Illinois House Speaker Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch (from left), former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy at a recent Black Excellence in Bleu event in the Loop.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Welch and Michigan\u2019s Joe Tate, both Democrats who were the first Black legislative speakers of their states, launched the charity and are listed as Black Excellence in Bleu board members. The group\u2019s office is in the same Westchester building as Welch\u2019s other political and government operations.<\/p>\n The nonprofit is required by the IRS to file an annual report that\u2019s available to the public and provides basic information on its finances. Since it was created only last year, it hasn\u2019t had to submit that paperwork yet. It will do so next month, according to McConnico.<\/p>\n Welch\u2019s charity says on its website that it promotes \u201ccivic engagement, community outreach and the advancement of sound fiscal, educational and economic policies for the common good and welfare of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n In its first year, it has raised over $1 million, according to Welch, with much of that covering a massive kickoff event honoring seven of the nation\u2019s first Black state House speakers that was held at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last summer.<\/p>\n Black Excellence in Bleu has given a $50,000 educational scholarship to the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation and $25,000 to America SCORES Chicago, a nonprofit dedicated to youth engagement through soccer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to doing more work with organizations that may be losing federal funding because of what [President Donald] Trump and [presidential adviser Elon] Musk are doing,\u201d Welch says.<\/p>\n Illinois House Speaker Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch at his recent charity event with Charles Wu, who runs a trade group that\u2019s resisted hemp regulations from the General Assembly.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Tickets to attend the March event cost $200. Sponsorships cost between $10,000 and $100,000. More than two dozen companies and organizations are listed as sponsors on the nonprofit\u2019s website, though it\u2019s not spelled out which gave how much.<\/p>\n Campaign contributions must be reported quarterly, if not more quickly, and the contributors and amounts are accessible to anyone through the Illinois State Board of Elections website.<\/p>\n Four campaign funds representing interest groups, including one for Realtors, gave a total of $60,000 to Welch\u2019s charity since last year, according to the elections board.<\/p>\n One big campaign donor to Welch is the Sports Betting Alliance, which includes sports gambling operations such as FanDuel and DraftKings that are regulated by the state of Illinois. The trade group gave Welch\u2019s main campaign fund $250,000 in October, records show. It\u2019s also listed as a sponsor for Welch\u2019s charity.<\/p>\n Several labor unions have sponsored Black Excellence in Bleu, too, including Operating Engineers Local 150, which gave $10,000 for the scholarship program, a spokesman says. Local 150 is led by Jim Sweeney, who also is on the board of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.<\/p>\n Another sponsor is Cornerstone Government Affairs, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm whose principal \u201cWill Cousineau testified under an immunity deal<\/a> with federal authorities in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was Welch\u2019s predecessor as speaker and Cousineau\u2019s former boss.<\/p>\n![\"Illinois](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/8ccf724\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1000x806+0+0\/resize\/840x677!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F10%2F04%2F913ff767457590d630cf42f41997%2Fdsc-7917.jpg\")
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