Springfield’s Nina Harris Failed to Disclose $31,000 in Side Pay While Leading State Diversity Commission

Nina Harris, chairperson of Illinois’ Commission on Equity and Inclusion, did not disclose more than $31,000 in income from her former employer while collecting a $155,000 annual state salary, according to amended financial disclosures reviewed by The Center Square.

Harris filed an amendment in March 2026 to correct a February 2025 disclosure that omitted her continued work as a human resources contractor for the Springfield Urban League. The nonprofit paid her more than $7,500 in 2024 alone, the threshold that requires disclosure under state law.

"The (statement of economic interests) and amendment process exists to give individuals an opportunity to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information should there be items that need to be adjusted or updated," Harris wrote in an email to The Center Square. "That is what took place in this case."

Harris declined to say why the income was absent from her initial filing.

A crime punishable by prison time

State law makes it a crime to knowingly file "a false or incomplete statement" on financial disclosures. Commissioners acknowledge this when they sign their forms. The offense carries a penalty of up to one year in prison or a $2,500 fine.

Harris left her role as chief executive of the Springfield Urban League in 2021. Her amended disclosure shows she has continued working for the organization as a contractor since then.

Her most recent disclosure, covering calendar year 2025, shows she was paid more than $8,700 by the Springfield Urban League.

Commission performance under scrutiny

The disclosure failure comes as lawmakers have questioned the commission’s effectiveness. The agency was created by state lawmakers in 2022 to expand access to government contracts for businesses owned by racial minorities, women, and people with disabilities.

The data shows a troubling trend:

• Total contract money for certified businesses rose to about $1.6 billion last year
• The number of certified businesses dropped by approximately half from its peak
• The decline is largely attributed to a computer software switch that was supposed to streamline certification

"This really needs to be fixed, and if it means making you guys full-time employees, I think maybe that’s what needs to happen because $150,000 a year to lose 2,600 vendors, it’s just unacceptable," Sen. Chapin Rose, Republican minority caucus whip, said during a budget hearing in April.

More commissioners amend filings

Harris was one of three commissioners who corrected their previous filings this year following scrutiny from The Center Square:

• Benjamin Salentine revised his 2024 filing to disclose pay from his previous job with the University of Illinois at Chicago. His initial disclosure noted the pay but placed it in the wrong location on the form.
• Ovelia Smith-Barton amended her 2024 and 2025 filings to disclose that her spouse worked as a substitute teacher for a Springfield school district. The reports require commissioners to list other government entities that employed them or their spouses.

Lawmakers consider ending the commission

Each of the seven commissioners earns a salary of approximately $150,000. The agency employs more than 30 staff members.

The commission is requesting about $5.6 million in state funding for the next fiscal year. That figure does not include the roughly $1 million paid annually to the commissioners themselves from a separate fund.

Other state government boards with comparable or lower pay bars members from holding outside paid jobs. Lawmakers have considered adjusting the commission’s structure, and some have proposed disbanding it entirely.

Marcus Johnson, chief executive of the Springfield Urban League, did not respond to a request to reveal what Harris has been paid. The organization’s federal nonprofit filings do not list the specific amounts.

Illinois House members indicated they would hold another hearing to question commission staff before voting on the budget request. That hearing has not been scheduled, and the legislative session is set to end this month.