101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4630

 

Introduced 2/5/2020, by Rep. Sonya M. Harper

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
30 ILCS 575/7  from Ch. 127, par. 132.607

    Amends the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act. Provides that the Business Enterprise Council for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities shall collaborate with each chief procurement officer to create a unified, searchable, statewide online database incorporating specified information. Requires the Council to annually report on trends and identify areas of State contracting for outreach to businesses owned by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. Makes conforming changes.


LRB101 17968 RJF 67404 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4630LRB101 17968 RJF 67404 b

1    AN ACT concerning finance.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women,
5and Persons with Disabilities Act is amended by changing
6Section 7 as follows:
 
7    (30 ILCS 575/7)  (from Ch. 127, par. 132.607)
8    (Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2024)
9    Sec. 7. Exemptions; waivers; publication of data.
10    (1) Individual contract exemptions. The Council, at the
11written request of the affected agency, public institution of
12higher education, or recipient of a grant or loan of State
13funds of $250,000 or more complying with Section 45 of the
14State Finance Act, may permit an individual contract or
15contract package, (related contracts being bid or awarded
16simultaneously for the same project or improvements) be made
17wholly or partially exempt from State contracting goals for
18businesses owned by minorities, women, and persons with
19disabilities prior to the advertisement for bids or
20solicitation of proposals whenever there has been a
21determination, reduced to writing and based on the best
22information available at the time of the determination, that
23there is an insufficient number of businesses owned by

 

 

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1minorities, women, and persons with disabilities to ensure
2adequate competition and an expectation of reasonable prices on
3bids or proposals solicited for the individual contract or
4contract package in question. Any such exemptions shall be
5given by the Council to the Bureau on Apprenticeship Programs.
6        (a) Written request for contract exemption. A written
7    request for an individual contract exemption must include,
8    but is not limited to, the following:
9            (i) a list of eligible businesses owned by
10        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities;
11            (ii) a clear demonstration that the number of
12        eligible businesses identified in subparagraph (i)
13        above is insufficient to ensure adequate competition;
14            (iii) the difference in cost between the contract
15        proposals being offered by businesses owned by
16        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities and
17        the agency or public institution of higher education's
18        expectations of reasonable prices on bids or proposals
19        within that class; and
20            (iv) a list of eligible businesses owned by
21        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities that
22        the contractor has used in the current and prior fiscal
23        years.
24        (b) Determination. The Council's determination
25    concerning an individual contract exemption must consider,
26    at a minimum, the following:

 

 

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1            (i) the justification for the requested exemption,
2        including whether diligent efforts were undertaken to
3        identify and solicit eligible businesses owned by
4        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities;
5            (ii) the total number of exemptions granted to the
6        affected agency, public institution of higher
7        education, or recipient of a grant or loan of State
8        funds of $250,000 or more complying with Section 45 of
9        the State Finance Act that have been granted by the
10        Council in the current and prior fiscal years; and
11            (iii) the percentage of contracts awarded by the
12        agency or public institution of higher education to
13        eligible businesses owned by minorities, women, and
14        persons with disabilities in the current and prior
15        fiscal years.
16    (2) Class exemptions.
17        (a) Creation. The Council, at the written request of
18    the affected agency or public institution of higher
19    education, may permit an entire class of contracts be made
20    exempt from State contracting goals for businesses owned by
21    minorities, women, and persons with disabilities whenever
22    there has been a determination, reduced to writing and
23    based on the best information available at the time of the
24    determination, that there is an insufficient number of
25    qualified businesses owned by minorities, women, and
26    persons with disabilities to ensure adequate competition

 

 

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1    and an expectation of reasonable prices on bids or
2    proposals within that class. Any such exemption shall be
3    given by the Council to the Bureau on Apprenticeship
4    Programs.
5        (a-1) Written request for class exemption. A written
6    request for a class exemption must include, but is not
7    limited to, the following:
8            (i) a list of eligible businesses owned by
9        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities;
10            (ii) a clear demonstration that the number of
11        eligible businesses identified in subparagraph (i)
12        above is insufficient to ensure adequate competition;
13            (iii) the difference in cost between the contract
14        proposals being offered by eligible businesses owned
15        by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities
16        and the agency or public institution of higher
17        education's expectations of reasonable prices on bids
18        or proposals within that class; and
19            (iv) the number of class exemptions the affected
20        agency or public institution of higher education
21        requested in the current and prior fiscal years.
22        (a-2) Determination. The Council's determination
23    concerning class exemptions must consider, at a minimum,
24    the following:
25            (i) the justification for the requested exemption,
26        including whether diligent efforts were undertaken to

 

 

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1        identify and solicit eligible businesses owned by
2        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities;
3            (ii) the total number of class exemptions granted
4        to the requesting agency or public institution of
5        higher education that have been granted by the Council
6        in the current and prior fiscal years; and
7            (iii) the percentage of contracts awarded by the
8        agency or public institution of higher education to
9        eligible businesses owned by minorities, women, and
10        persons with disabilities the current and prior fiscal
11        years.
12        (b) Limitation. Any such class exemption shall not be
13    permitted for a period of more than one year at a time.
14    (3) Waivers. Where a particular contract requires a
15contractor to meet a goal established pursuant to this Act, the
16contractor shall have the right to request a waiver from such
17requirements. The Council shall grant the waiver where the
18contractor demonstrates that there has been made a good faith
19effort to comply with the goals for participation by businesses
20owned by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. Any
21such waiver shall also be transmitted in writing to the Bureau
22on Apprenticeship Programs.
23        (a) Request for waiver. A contractor's request for a
24    waiver under this subsection (3) must include, but is not
25    limited to, the following, if available:
26            (i) a list of eligible businesses owned by

 

 

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1        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities that
2        pertain to the class of contracts in the requested
3        waiver;
4            (ii) a clear demonstration that the number of
5        eligible businesses identified in subparagraph (i)
6        above is insufficient to ensure competition;
7            (iii) the difference in cost between the contract
8        proposals being offered by businesses owned by
9        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities and
10        the agency or the public institution of higher
11        education's expectations of reasonable prices on bids
12        or proposals within that class; and
13            (iv) a list of businesses owned by minorities,
14        women, and persons with disabilities that the
15        contractor has used in the current and prior fiscal
16        years.
17        (b) Determination. The Council's determination
18    concerning waivers must include following:
19            (i) the justification for the requested waiver,
20        including whether the requesting contractor made a
21        good faith effort to identify and solicit eligible
22        businesses owned by minorities, women, and persons
23        with disabilities;
24            (ii) the total number of waivers the contractor has
25        been granted by the Council in the current and prior
26        fiscal years;

 

 

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1            (iii) the percentage of contracts awarded by the
2        agency or public institution of higher education to
3        eligible businesses owned by minorities, women, and
4        persons with disabilities in the current and prior
5        fiscal years; and
6            (iv) the contractor's use of businesses owned by
7        minorities, women, and persons with disabilities in
8        the current and prior fiscal years.
9    (3.5) (Blank).
10    (4) Conflict with other laws. In the event that any State
11contract, which otherwise would be subject to the provisions of
12this Act, is or becomes subject to federal laws or regulations
13which conflict with the provisions of this Act or actions of
14the State taken pursuant hereto, the provisions of the federal
15laws or regulations shall apply and the contract shall be
16interpreted and enforced accordingly.
17    (5) Each chief procurement officer, as defined in the
18Illinois Procurement Code, shall maintain on his or her
19official Internet website a database of the following: (i)
20waivers granted under this Section with respect to contracts
21under his or her jurisdiction; (ii) a State agency or public
22institution of higher education's written request for an
23exemption of an individual contract or an entire class of
24contracts; and (iii) the Council's written determination
25granting or denying a request for an exemption of an individual
26contract or an entire class of contracts. The database, which

 

 

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1shall be updated periodically as necessary, shall be searchable
2by contractor name and by contracting State agency.
3    (6) Each chief procurement officer, as defined by the
4Illinois Procurement Code, shall maintain on its website a list
5of all firms that have been prohibited from bidding, offering,
6or entering into a contract with the State of Illinois as a
7result of violations of this Act.
8    (7) Each public notice required by law of the award of a
9State contract shall include for each bid or offer submitted
10for that contract the following: (i) the bidder's or offeror's
11name, (ii) the bid amount, (iii) the name or names of the
12certified firms identified in the bidder's or offeror's
13submitted utilization plan, and (iv) the bid's amount and
14percentage of the contract awarded to businesses owned by
15minorities, women, and persons with disabilities identified in
16the utilization plan.
17    (8) The Council shall collaborate with each chief
18procurement officer, as defined in the Illinois Procurement
19Code, to create a unified, searchable, statewide online
20database incorporating all the information required in
21subsections (5), (6), and (7), with the cooperation of the
22Department of Central Management Services and other agencies
23and public institutions of higher education as necessary. The
24Council shall annually report on trends and identify areas of
25State contracting for outreach to businesses owned by
26minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 100-391, eff. 8-25-17; 101-170, eff. 1-1-20;
2101-601, eff. 1-1-20.)