Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) For purposes of this Section:
1) The terms "minority", "minority owned
business", "women owned business", and "business owned by a person with a
disability" shall have the meanings ascribed to them in Section 2 of the
Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act
[30 ILCS 575].
2) "Veteran" has the
meaning ascribed in Section 10 of the Veterans Preference in Private Employment
Act [330 ILCS 56].
3) "Veteran
owned business" is a business that is at least 51% owned by one or more
veterans or, in the case of a corporation, at least 51% of the stock of which
is owned by one or more veterans, and the management and daily operations of
which are controlled by one or more of the veterans who own it.
4) "Contract" is an agreement for the
provision of goods or services to an owners licensee.
5) "Contracting goal" is the goal established
by the Board for the award of contracts by each owners licensee to
businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities and
veterans, expressed as percentages of an owners licensee's total dollar
amount of contracts awarded during each calendar year [230 ILCS
10/7.6(b)] except for contracts
excluded from the coverage of this Section by subsection (b)(3).
6) "Good faith effort" is the effort of an
owners licensee to achieve a contracting goal. A "good faith" effort shall
require an owners licensee to give consideration in the awarding of contracts
to qualified businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities,
and veterans that are located in Illinois. A "good faith effort" shall require
the following actions by an owners licensee:
A) Outreach by an owners licensee to
associations of minority owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses
owned by persons with disabilities, and veterans whose areas of operation
include the unit of local government where the owners licensee's riverboat
gambling operation is located, to request their assistance in identifying and
contacting businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities,
and veterans that may be appropriate candidates for contract awards by the
owners licensee.
B) Publication on
a continuing basis in an owners licensee's website and, at least annually, in
the official State newspaper, of a statement informing potential bidders how to
obtain more detailed information from the owners licensee about future
contracts to be entered into by the owners licensee, including price,
occupational, and materials specifications. In addition, the owners licensee
shall distribute this statement to the Business Enterprise Program of the
Department of Central Management Services established under the Business
Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, the
Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the
Director of the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
7) "Dollar percentage" is the percentage of
the total dollar value of an owners licensee's vendor contracts with minority
owned businesses, women owned businesses, or businesses owned by a person with
a disability during a calendar year, to the total dollar amount of all vendor
contracts entered into by the owners licensee during that calendar year, except
for contracts covered under subsection (b)(2).
8) "Emergency" is a situation in which one or
more of the following have occurred or are at imminent risk of occurring:
A) Damage or disruption to all or part of a
riverboat gambling operation; or
B)
Danger to the health, safety, comfort or welfare of patrons or
employees.
b)
For each calendar year, the Board shall establish benchmark contracting goals,
as defined in subsection (a)(5), for each owners licensee expressed as a dollar
percentage as defined in subsection (a)(7). Separate benchmark contracting
goals shall be established for minority owned businesses, women owned
businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and veteran owned
businesses. A benchmark contracting goal shall provide for the greatest
reasonable dollar percentage, consistent with the ability of vendors that are
not minority owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses owned by
persons with disabilities, or veteran owned businesses to bid fairly on
contracts and not incur discrimination in contract selection based on their
non-inclusion in a category of businesses subject to a contracting goal.
1) Beginning August 1, 2020, the benchmark
contracting goals under this Section shall be the following:
A) 11% for minority owned
businesses;
B) 7% for women owned
businesses;
C) 2% for businesses
owned by persons with disabilities; and
D) 3% for veteran owned businesses.
2) By December 1 of each calendar
year, each owners licensee shall submit to the Board separate proposed
contracting goals for the coming calendar year for minority owned businesses,
women owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and
veteran owned businesses. The final contracting goals for each calendar year
shall be established through a process of consultation with each owners
licensee and subsequent Board evaluation and approval. The final contracting
goals shall be based on the numbers and dollar amounts of new and renewed
contracts, as well as the owners licensee's evaluation of the availability of
minority owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses owned by persons
with disabilities, and veteran owned businesses that are qualified to perform
the new and renewed contracts, and located in sufficient geographical proximity
to the owners licensee to be reasonable candidates for contract selection. The
final contracting goals for each owners licensee shall approach, at a minimum,
the benchmark contracting goals of subsection (b)(1) as closely as the Board
deems practicable. The Board may conduct fact-finding hearings to determine the
appropriateness of a final contracting goal.
3)
When setting the goals for the
award of contracts, the Board shall not include contracts in
which
:A)
any
purchasing mandates would be dependent upon the availability of minority owned
businesses, women owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with
disabilities, and veteran owned firms ready, willing, and able
with capacity to provide quality goods and services to a gaming operation at
reasonable prices;
B)
there are no or a limited number of licensed suppliers as defined
by the Act for the goods or services provided to the
licensee;
C)
the
licensee or its parent company owns a company that provides the goods or
services;
D)
the
goods or services are provided to the licensee by a publicly traded
company [230 ILCS
10/7.6(b)]; or
E) The contract is entered into in response
to an emergency.
4) An
owners licensee may satisfy its goal for the award of contracts, in whole or in
part, by counting the total dollar amount of first and second tier subcontracts
and purchase orders to businesses certified as vendors under the Business
Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act or by any
other certifying agency approved by the Board.
c) In evaluating whether an owners licensee
has made a good faith effort as defined in subsection (a)(6), the fulfillment
of a contracting goal as defined in subsection (a)(5) shall be significant but
not determinative. An owners licensee that has failed to meet a contracting
goal nevertheless may be deemed to have complied with the provisions of this
Section if it can establish that it has made diligent efforts to achieve the
contracting goal through outreach, advertising or other types of efforts
designed to inform minority owned businesses, women owned businesses,
businesses owned by persons with disabilities, or veteran owned businesses
about potential contracting opportunities with the owners licensee and has
engaged in a fair bidding process.
d)
The owners licensee shall have the
right to request a waiver from the requirements of this Section. The Board
shall grant the waiver when the owners licensee demonstrates
that there has been made a good faith effort to comply with the goals for
participation by minority owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses
owned by persons with disabilities, and veteran owned businesses.
[230 ILCS
10/7.6(d)]
e)
If the Board determines that its
goals and policies are not being met by an owners licensee, then the Board
may:
1) Recommend remedies
for those violations; and
2)
Recommend that the owners
licensee
provide additional opportunities for participation by minority
owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with
disabilities, and veteran owned businesses
; the
recommendations may include, but shall not be limited to:
A)
Assurances of stronger and better
focused solicitation efforts to obtain more minority owned businesses, women
owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and
veteran owned businesses as potential sources of
supply;
B)
Division of job or project requirements, when economically feasible,
into tasks or quantities to permit participation of minority owned businesses,
women owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities,
and veteran owned businesses;
C)
Elimination of extended experience
or capitalization requirements, when programmatically feasible, to permit
participation of minority owned businesses, women owned businesses, businesses
owned by persons with disabilities, and veteran owned
businesses; and
D)
Identification of specific proposed contracts as particularly
attractive or appropriate for participation by minority owned businesses, women
owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and
veteran owned businesses, such identification to result from and be
coupled with the efforts described in subsections (e)(2)(A) through
(C). [230 ILCS
10/7.6(e)]
f) The Board shall not establish
any type of quota in connection with its enforcement of this Section and
Section 7.6 of the Act.
g) By March
31 of each year, each owners licensee shall file with the Board an
annual report of its utilization of minority owned businesses, women owned
businesses, and businesses owned by persons with disabilities during the
preceding calendar year. The reports shall include a self-evaluation of the
efforts of the owners licensee to meet its goals under this Section.
[230 ILCS
10/7.6(c)] Beginning in calendar year
2021, this report shall include information on an owners licensees' utilization
of veteran owned businesses.
h) The
dollar percentages for an owners licensee shall be determined according to data
in an owners licensee's annual report submitted to the Board under subsection
(g).
