Rep. Curtis J. Tarver, II

Filed: 4/17/2024

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4846

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4846 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women,
5and Persons with Disabilities Act is amended by changing
6Sections 2, 5, and 8 and by adding Section 3.5 as follows:
 
7    (30 ILCS 575/2)
8    (Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2029)
9    Sec. 2. Definitions.
10    (A) For the purpose of this Act, the following terms shall
11have the following definitions:
12        (1) "Minority person" shall mean a person who is a
13    citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States
14    and who is any of the following:
15            (a) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person
16        having origins in any of the original peoples of North

 

 

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1        and South America, including Central America, and who
2        maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment).
3            (b) Asian (a person having origins in any of the
4        original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or
5        the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited
6        to, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
7        Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and
8        Vietnam).
9            (c) Black or African American (a person having
10        origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa).
11            (d) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban,
12        Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or
13        other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race).
14            (e) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a
15        person having origins in any of the original peoples
16        of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).
17        (2) "Woman" shall mean a person who is a citizen or
18    lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is
19    of the female gender.
20        (2.05) "Person with a disability" means a person who
21    is a citizen or lawful resident of the United States and is
22    a person qualifying as a person with a disability under
23    subdivision (2.1) of this subsection (A).
24        (2.1) "Person with a disability" means a person with a
25    severe physical or mental disability that:
26            (a) results from:

 

 

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1            amputation,
2            arthritis,
3            autism,
4            blindness,
5            burn injury,
6            cancer,
7            cerebral palsy,
8            Crohn's disease,
9            cystic fibrosis,
10            deafness,
11            head injury,
12            heart disease,
13            hemiplegia,
14            hemophilia,
15            respiratory or pulmonary dysfunction,
16            an intellectual disability,
17            mental illness,
18            multiple sclerosis,
19            muscular dystrophy,
20            musculoskeletal disorders,
21            neurological disorders, including stroke and
22        epilepsy,
23            paraplegia,
24            quadriplegia and other spinal cord conditions,
25            sickle cell anemia,
26            ulcerative colitis,

 

 

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1            specific learning disabilities, or
2            end stage renal failure disease; and
3            (b) substantially limits one or more of the
4        person's major life activities.
5        Another disability or combination of disabilities may
6    also be considered as a severe disability for the purposes
7    of item (a) of this subdivision (2.1) if it is determined
8    by an evaluation of rehabilitation potential to cause a
9    comparable degree of substantial functional limitation
10    similar to the specific list of disabilities listed in
11    item (a) of this subdivision (2.1).
12        (3) "Minority-owned business" means a business which
13    is at least 51% owned by one or more minority persons, or
14    in the case of a corporation, at least 51% of the stock in
15    which is owned by one or more minority persons; and the
16    management and daily business operations of which are
17    controlled by one or more of the minority individuals who
18    own it.
19        (4) "Women-owned business" means a business which is
20    at least 51% owned by one or more women, or, in the case of
21    a corporation, at least 51% of the stock in which is owned
22    by one or more women; and the management and daily
23    business operations of which are controlled by one or more
24    of the women who own it.
25        (4.1) "Business owned by a person with a disability"
26    means a business that is at least 51% owned by one or more

 

 

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1    persons with a disability and the management and daily
2    business operations of which are controlled by one or more
3    of the persons with disabilities who own it. A
4    not-for-profit agency for persons with disabilities that
5    is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the Internal
6    Revenue Code of 1986 is also considered a "business owned
7    by a person with a disability".
8        (4.2) "Council" means the Business Enterprise Council
9    for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities
10    created under Section 5 of this Act.
11        (4.3) "Commission" means, unless the context clearly
12    indicates otherwise, the Commission on Equity and
13    Inclusion created under the Commission on Equity and
14    Inclusion Act.
15        (4.4) "Certified vendor" means a minority-owned
16    business, women-owned business, or business owned by a
17    person with a disability that is certified by the Business
18    Enterprise Program.
19        (4.5) "Subcontractor" means a person or entity that
20    enters into a contractual agreement with a prime vendor to
21    provide, on behalf of the prime vendor, goods, services,
22    real property, or remuneration or other monetary
23    consideration that is the subject of the primary State
24    contract. "Subcontractor" includes a sublessee under a
25    State contract.
26        (4.6) "Prime vendor" means any person or entity having

 

 

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1    a contract that is subject to this Act with a State agency
2    or public institution of higher education.
3        (5) "State contracts" means all contracts entered into
4    by the State, any agency or department thereof, or any
5    public institution of higher education, including
6    community college districts, regardless of the source of
7    the funds with which the contracts are paid, which are not
8    subject to federal reimbursement. "State contracts" does
9    not include contracts awarded by a retirement system,
10    pension fund, or investment board subject to Section
11    1-109.1 of the Illinois Pension Code. This definition
12    shall control over any existing definition under this Act
13    or applicable administrative rule.
14        "State construction contracts" means all State
15    contracts entered into by a State agency or public
16    institution of higher education for the repair,
17    remodeling, renovation or construction of a building or
18    structure, or for the construction or maintenance of a
19    highway defined in Article 2 of the Illinois Highway Code.
20        (6) "State agencies" shall mean all departments,
21    officers, boards, commissions, institutions and bodies
22    politic and corporate of the State, but does not include
23    the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, the
24    Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University, the
25    Board of Trustees of Chicago State University, the Board
26    of Trustees of Eastern Illinois University, the Board of

 

 

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1    Trustees of Governors State University, the Board of
2    Trustees of Illinois State University, the Board of
3    Trustees of Northeastern Illinois University, the Board of
4    Trustees of Northern Illinois University, the Board of
5    Trustees of Western Illinois University, municipalities or
6    other local governmental units, or other State
7    constitutional officers.
8        (7) "Public institutions of higher education" means
9    the University of Illinois, Southern Illinois University,
10    Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University,
11    Governors State University, Illinois State University,
12    Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois
13    University, Western Illinois University, the public
14    community colleges of the State, and any other public
15    universities, colleges, and community colleges now or
16    hereafter established or authorized by the General
17    Assembly.
18        (8) "Certification" means a determination made by the
19    Council or by one delegated authority from the Council to
20    make certifications, or by a State agency with statutory
21    authority to make such a certification, that a business
22    entity is a business owned by a minority, woman, or person
23    with a disability for whatever purpose. A business owned
24    and controlled by women shall be certified as a
25    "woman-owned business". A business owned and controlled by
26    women who are also minorities shall be certified as both a

 

 

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1    "women-owned business" and a "minority-owned business".
2        (9) "Control" means the exclusive or ultimate and sole
3    control of the business including, but not limited to,
4    capital investment and all other financial matters,
5    property, acquisitions, contract negotiations, legal
6    matters, officer-director-employee selection and
7    comprehensive hiring, operating responsibilities,
8    cost-control matters, income and dividend matters,
9    financial transactions and rights of other shareholders or
10    joint partners. Control shall be real, substantial and
11    continuing, not pro forma. Control shall include the power
12    to direct or cause the direction of the management and
13    policies of the business and to make the day-to-day as
14    well as major decisions in matters of policy, management
15    and operations. Control shall be exemplified by possessing
16    the requisite knowledge and expertise to run the
17    particular business and control shall not include simple
18    majority or absentee ownership.
19        (10) "Business" means a business that has annual gross
20    sales of less than $150,000,000 as evidenced by the
21    federal income tax return of the business. A certified
22    vendor with gross sales in excess of this cap may apply to
23    the Council for certification for a particular contract if
24    the vendor can demonstrate that the contract would have
25    significant impact on businesses owned by minorities,
26    women, or persons with disabilities as suppliers or

 

 

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1    subcontractors or in employment of minorities, women, or
2    persons with disabilities. Firms with gross sales in
3    excess of this cap that are granted certification by the
4    Council shall be granted certification for the life of the
5    contract, including available renewals.
6        (11) "Utilization plan" means an attachment that is
7    made to all bids or proposals and that demonstrates the
8    bidder's or offeror's efforts to meet the
9    contract-specific Business Enterprise Program goal. The
10    utilization plan shall indicate whether the prime vendor
11    intends to meet the Business Enterprise Program goal
12    through its own performance, if it is a certified vendor,
13    or through the use of subcontractors that are certified
14    vendors. The utilization plan shall demonstrate that the
15    Vendor has either: (1) met the entire contract goal or (2)
16    requested a full or partial waiver of the contract goal.
17    If the prime vendor intends to use a subcontractor that is
18    a certified vendor to fulfill the contract goal, a
19    participation agreement executed between the prime vendor
20    and the certified subcontractor must be included with the
21    utilization plan.
22        (12) "Business Enterprise Program" means the Business
23    Enterprise Program of the Commission on Equity and
24    Inclusion.
25        (13) "Good faith effort" means actions undertaken by a
26    vendor to achieve a contract specific Business Enterprise

 

 

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1    Program goal that, by scope, intensity, and
2    appropriateness to the objective, can reasonably be
3    expected to fulfill the program's requirements.
4        (14) "Goal" means the participation levels of
5    certified vendors on State contracts.
6    (B) When a business is owned at least 51% by any
7combination of minority persons, women, or persons with
8disabilities, even though none of the 3 classes alone holds at
9least a 51% interest, the ownership requirement for purposes
10of this Act is considered to be met. The certification
11category for the business is that of the class holding the
12largest ownership interest in the business. If 2 or more
13classes have equal ownership interests, the certification
14category shall be determined by the business.
15(Source: P.A. 102-29, eff. 6-25-21; 102-1119, eff. 1-23-23;
16103-570, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
17    (30 ILCS 575/3.5 new)
18    Sec. 3.5. Uniform standard of contract goals.
19    (a) The Business Enterprise Program may establish uniform
20standards for calculating contract specific Business
21Enterprise Program goals for all State contracts and State
22construction contracts subject to this Act. In establishing
23those standards, the Business Enterprise Program may consider
24normal industry practice, the scope of the work to be
25performed under a contract, the availability of vendors that

 

 

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1are able to perform the scope of the work to be performed under
2a contract, the availability of certified vendors that are
3able to perform the work to be performed under a contract, and
4the State's progress to date toward meeting the aspirational
5goals set forth in this Act.
6    (b) Each State agency that is subject to this Act and each
7public institution of higher education that is subject to this
8Act may, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, set
9goals concerning participation in State contracts, including
10State construction contracts, to which the State agency or
11public institution of higher education is party. Goals
12involving State contracts above the small purchase threshold,
13as defined in Section 20-20 of the Illinois Procurement Code,
14may be submitted to the Business Enterprise Program for
15approval, denial, or modification.
16    (c) As used in this Section, the terms "State contract"
17and "State construction contract" do not include grants from
18State agencies to grantees for capital improvements or
19operational expenses.
 
20    (30 ILCS 575/5)  (from Ch. 127, par. 132.605)
21    (Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2029)
22    Sec. 5. Business Enterprise Council.
23    (1) To help implement, monitor, and enforce the goals of
24this Act, there is created the Business Enterprise Council for
25Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities, hereinafter

 

 

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1referred to as the Council, composed of the Chairperson of the
2Commission on Equity and Inclusion, the Secretary of Human
3Services and the Directors of the Department of Human Rights,
4the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the
5Department of Central Management Services, the Department of
6Transportation and the Capital Development Board, or their
7duly appointed representatives, with the Comptroller, or his
8or her designee, serving as an advisory member of the Council.
9Ten individuals representing businesses that are
10minority-owned, women-owned, or owned by persons with
11disabilities, 2 individuals representing the business
12community, and a representative of public institutions of
13higher education shall be appointed by the Governor. These
14members shall serve 2-year terms and shall be eligible for
15reappointment. Any vacancy occurring on the Council shall also
16be filled by the Governor. Any member appointed to fill a
17vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for
18which his or her predecessor was appointed shall be appointed
19for the remainder of such term. Members of the Council shall
20serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for any
21ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of
22their duties.
23    The Chairperson of the Commission shall serve as the
24Council chairperson and shall select, subject to approval of
25the Council, a Secretary responsible for the operation of the
26program who shall serve as the Division Manager of the

 

 

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1Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with
2Disabilities Division of the Commission on Equity and
3Inclusion.
4    The Director of each State agency and the chief executive
5officer of each public institution of higher education shall
6appoint a liaison to the Council. The liaison shall be
7responsible for submitting to the Council any reports and
8documents necessary under this Act.
9    (2) The Council's authority and responsibility shall be
10to:
11        (a) Devise a certification procedure to assure that
12    businesses taking advantage of this Act are legitimately
13    classified as businesses owned by minorities, women, or
14    persons with disabilities and a registration procedure to
15    recognize, without additional evidence of Business
16    Enterprise Program eligibility, the certification of
17    businesses owned by minorities, women, or persons with
18    disabilities certified by the City of Chicago, Cook
19    County, or other jurisdictional programs with requirements
20    and procedures equaling or exceeding those in this Act.
21        (b) Maintain a list of all businesses legitimately
22    classified as businesses owned by minorities, women, or
23    persons with disabilities to provide to State agencies and
24    public institutions of higher education.
25        (c) Review rules and regulations for the
26    implementation of the program for businesses owned by

 

 

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1    minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.
2        (d) Review compliance plans submitted by each State
3    agency and public institution of higher education pursuant
4    to this Act.
5        (e) Make annual reports as provided in Section 8f to
6    the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of the
7    program.
8        (f) Serve as a central clearinghouse for information
9    on State contracts, including the maintenance of a list of
10    all pending State contracts upon which businesses owned by
11    minorities, women, and persons with disabilities may bid.
12    At the Council's discretion, maintenance of the list may
13    include 24-hour electronic access to the list along with
14    the bid and application information.
15        (g) Establish a toll-free telephone number to
16    facilitate information requests concerning the
17    certification process and pending contracts.
18        (h) Adopt a procedure to grant automatic certification
19    to businesses holding a certification from at least one of
20    the following entities: (i) the Illinois Unified
21    Certification Program; (ii) the Women's Business
22    Development Center in Chicago; (iii) the Chicago Minority
23    Supplier Development Council; or (iv) any other similar
24    entity offering such certification to businesses.
25        (i) Develop and maintain a repository for
26    non-certified vendors that: (i) have applied for

 

 

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1    certification and have been denied; (ii) have started, but
2    not completed, the certification process; (iii) have
3    achieved certification, but did not seek renewal; or (iv)
4    are known businesses owned by minorities, women, or
5    persons with disabilities.
6    (3) No premium bond rate of a surety company for a bond
7required of a business owned by a minority, woman, or person
8with a disability bidding for a State contract shall be higher
9than the lowest rate charged by that surety company for a
10similar bond in the same classification of work that would be
11written for a business not owned by a minority, woman, or
12person with a disability.
13    (4) Any Council member who has direct financial or
14personal interest in any measure pending before the Council
15shall disclose this fact to the Council and refrain from
16participating in the determination upon such measure.
17    (5) The Secretary shall have the following duties and
18responsibilities:
19        (a) To be responsible for the day-to-day operation of
20    the Council.
21        (b) To serve as a coordinator for all of the State's
22    programs for businesses owned by minorities, women, and
23    persons with disabilities and as the information and
24    referral center for all State initiatives for businesses
25    owned by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.
26        (c) To establish an enforcement procedure whereby the

 

 

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1    Council may recommend to the appropriate State legal
2    officer that the State exercise its legal remedies which
3    shall include (1) termination of the contract involved,
4    (2) prohibition of participation by the respondent in
5    State public contracts for a period not to exceed 3 years,
6    (3) imposition of a penalty in the amount of the
7    discrepancy between the commitment contained in the
8    utilization plan, as such amount may be amended over the
9    term of the contract, and the qualifying payments made to
10    the eligible certified vendors listed in the utilization
11    plan a penalty not to exceed any profit acquired as a
12    result of violation, or (4) any combination thereof. Such
13    procedures shall require prior approval by Council. All
14    funds collected as penalties under this subsection shall
15    be used exclusively for maintenance and further
16    development of the Business Enterprise Program and
17    encouragement of participation in State procurement by
18    minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.
19        (d) To devise appropriate policies, regulations, and
20    procedures for including participation by businesses owned
21    by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities as
22    prime contractors, including, but not limited to: (i)
23    encouraging the inclusions of qualified businesses owned
24    by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities on
25    solicitation lists, (ii) investigating the potential of
26    blanket bonding programs for small construction jobs, and

 

 

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1    (iii) investigating and making recommendations concerning
2    the use of the sheltered market process.
3        (e) To devise procedures for the waiver of the
4    participation goals in appropriate circumstances.
5        (f) To accept donations and, with the approval of the
6    Council or the Chairperson of the Commission on Equity and
7    Inclusion, grants related to the purposes of this Act; to
8    conduct seminars related to the purpose of this Act and to
9    charge reasonable registration fees; and to sell
10    directories, vendor lists, and other such information to
11    interested parties, except that forms necessary to become
12    eligible for the program shall be provided free of charge
13    to a business or individual applying for the Business
14    Enterprise Program.
15(Source: P.A. 101-601, eff. 1-1-20; 101-657, eff. 1-1-22;
16102-29, eff. 6-25-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-721, eff.
171-1-23.)
 
18    (30 ILCS 575/8)  (from Ch. 127, par. 132.608)
19    (Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2029)
20    Sec. 8. Enforcement.
21    (1) The Commission on Equity and Inclusion shall make such
22findings, recommendations and proposals to the Governor as are
23necessary and appropriate to enforce this Act. If, as a result
24of its monitoring activities, the Commission determines that
25its goals and policies are not being met by any State agency or

 

 

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1public institution of higher education, the Commission may
2recommend any or all of the following actions:
3        (a) Establish enforcement procedures whereby the
4    Commission may recommend to the appropriate State agency,
5    public institutions of higher education, or law
6    enforcement officer that legal or administrative remedies
7    be initiated for violations of contract provisions or
8    rules issued hereunder or by a contracting State agency or
9    public institutions of higher education. State agencies
10    and public institutions of higher education shall be
11    authorized to adopt remedies for such violations which
12    shall include (1) termination of the contract involved,
13    (2) prohibition of participation of the respondents in
14    public contracts for a period not to exceed one year, (3)
15    the assessment of a penalty in the amount of the
16    discrepancy between the commitment contained in the
17    utilization plan, as such amount may be amended over the
18    term of the contract, and the qualifying payments made to
19    the certified vendors listed in the utilization plan
20    imposition of a penalty not to exceed any profit acquired
21    as a result of violation, or (4) any combination thereof.
22        (b) If the Commission concludes that a compliance plan
23    submitted under Section 6 is unlikely to produce the
24    participation goals for businesses owned by minorities,
25    women, and persons with disabilities within the then
26    current fiscal year, the Commission may recommend that the

 

 

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1    State agency or public institution of higher education
2    revise its plan to provide additional opportunities for
3    participation by businesses owned by minorities, women,
4    and persons with disabilities. Such recommended revisions
5    may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
6            (i) assurances of stronger and better focused
7        solicitation efforts to obtain more businesses owned
8        by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities as
9        potential sources of supply;
10            (ii) division of the scope of work job or project
11        requirements, when economically feasible, into tasks
12        or quantities to permit participation of businesses
13        owned by minorities, women, and persons with
14        disabilities;
15            (iii) elimination of extended experience or
16        capitalization requirements, when programmatically
17        feasible, to permit participation of businesses owned
18        by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities;
19            (iv) identification of specific proposed contracts
20        as particularly attractive or appropriate for
21        participation by businesses owned by minorities,
22        women, and persons with disabilities, such
23        identification to result from and be coupled with the
24        efforts of subparagraphs (i) through (iii);
25            (v) implementation of those regulations
26        established for the use of the sheltered market

 

 

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1        process.
2    (2) State agencies and public institutions of higher
3education shall monitor a vendor's compliance with its
4utilization plan and the terms of its contract. Without
5limitation, a vendor's failure to comply with its contractual
6commitments as contained in the utilization plan; failure to
7cooperate in providing information regarding its compliance
8with its utilization plan; or the provision of false or
9misleading information or statements concerning compliance,
10certification status, or eligibility of the Business
11Enterprise Program-certified vendor, good faith efforts, or
12any other material fact or representation shall constitute a
13material breach of the contract and entitle the State agency
14or public institution of higher education to declare a
15default, terminate the contract, or exercise those remedies
16provided for in the contract, at law, or in equity.
17    (3) Prior to the expiration or termination of a contract,
18State agencies and public institutions of higher education
19shall evaluate the contractor's fulfillment of the contract
20goals for participation by certified businesses owned by
21minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. The agency
22or public institution of higher education shall prepare a
23report of the vendor's compliance with the contract goals and
24file it with the Secretary. If the Secretary determines that
25the vendor did not fulfill the contract goals, the vendor
26shall be in breach of the contract and may be subject to

 

 

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1remedies or sanctions, unless the vendor can show that it made
2good faith efforts to meet the contract goals. Such remedies
3or sanctions for failing to make good faith efforts may
4include (i) disqualification of the contractor from doing
5business with the State for a period of no more than one year,
6or (ii) cancellation, without any penalty to the State, of any
7contract entered into by the vendor, or (iii) the assessment
8of a penalty in the amount of the discrepancy between the
9commitment contained in the utilization plan, as such amount
10may be amended over the term of the contract, and the
11qualifying payments made to the certified vendors listed in
12the utilization plan. The Business Enterprise Program shall
13develop procedures for determining whether a vendor has made
14good faith efforts to meet the contract goals upon the
15expiration or termination of a contract.
16(Source: P.A. 101-657, eff. 1-1-22; 102-29, eff. 6-25-21.)".