The Boeing Company’s problems – in aviation, in court and with the federal government – have not stopped three of Illinois’ top four state politicians and other state politicians from accepting campaign funds from its political arm in 2024, according to records.
The company’s political action committee donated a total of $22,000 last month to these lawmakers, other state and local politicians, and the two major political parties.
Among the recipients: Don Harmon, Democrat of Oak Park, president of the Illinois Senate, whose campaign fund received $1,000 from Boeing in July, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, and who has received a total of $9,000 from Boeing since 2020.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) and Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) also each accepted $1,000 from Boeing in July, records show.
In total, Illinois state and local politicians and funds have accepted more than $90,000 from Boeing since the company was accused of fraud by the federal government in 2021, records show.
When asked if he would accept money from Boeing, a spokesman for Harmon’s campaign team said: “From his first days in office and throughout his time as Senate President, Don Harmon has always put consumer safety first. Nothing will ever challenge his position to ensure the safety of the people of Illinois.”
Neither Welch nor Curran could be reached.
Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, President of the Illinois Senate.
A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment on the campaign donations.
Other Illinois politicians and groups that have recently accepted campaign funds from Boeing include:
- Tony McCombie, minority leader in the Illinois House of Representatives and a Republican from Western Illinois, received $1,000 in November.
- The Illinois Democratic Party received $7,000 in July and the Illinois Republican Party accepted $7,000 in early August.
- State Senator Christopher Belt, a Democrat from the south of the state whose district includes an airport where Governor JB Pritzker and Boeing announced in 2021 that the company would open a factory to build military drones, received $1,000 on August 7.
In front of the audience, then Boeing CEO David Calhoun appears before a congressional hearing in June to answer questions about safety issues. Calhoun has since left this post.
The Boeing spokeswoman says of this project: “Work on the new MQ-25 facility at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is progressing. Production of the unmanned tanker aircraft is scheduled to begin there early next year.”
Records also show that Illinois congressmen have accepted at least $13,000 in campaign contributions from Boeing this year — Democrats Mike Quigley and Nikki Budzinkski and Republican Darin LaHood each received $3,000.
According to an analysis by the nonprofit watchdog group OpenSecrets, the company has donated more than $1 million to Illinois congressmen and candidates for congressional offices representing the state since 1990.
Since Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2001, the company and its subsidiaries have made more than $360,000 in campaign contributions to state and local political groups. Records show Boeing employees have also donated nearly $125,000 over the years. In mid-2022, the company announced it would move its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia.
Among the carrier’s recent safety and legal woes is when a door panel on a Boeing 737 MAX ripped off in midair after leaving Portland, Oregon, in January. The panel was missing screws, investigators say, although the cause of the harrowing incident has not yet been definitively determined.
Shortly thereafter, the Justice Department accused Boeing of violating a 2021 legal agreement that had protected the company from prosecution for covering up design flaws that led to fatal 737 MAX crashes abroad.
As part of a recent settlement related to aggravated fraud charges, Boeing has agreed to accept additional fines and regulatory measures. That agreement, which has not yet been approved by a federal judge, has been criticized by families of crash victims as “another favor deal” for the company. The proposed deal does not directly link a crash in Indonesia in 2018 or a crash in Ethiopia in 2019 that killed a total of 346 people to Boeing’s fraud, although the judge did so.
BOEING AGREEMENT – VICTIMS’ RESPONSE
