70 ILCS 210/23.1 — Illinois Code / Chapter 70 / Act 210 / Section 23.1
Section 23.1
Status: in_force

(70 ILCS 210/23.1) (from Ch. 85, par. 1243.1) Sec. 23.1. Affirmative action. (a) The Authority shall, within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1984, establish and maintain an affirmative action program designed to promote equal employment opportunity and eliminate the effects of past discrimination. Such program shall include a plan, including timetables where appropriate, which shall specify goals and methods for increasing participation by women and minorities in employment by the Authority and by parties which contract with the Authority. The Authority shall submit a detailed plan with the General Assembly prior to September 1 of each year. Such program shall also establish procedures and sanctions, which the Authority shall enforce to ensure compliance with the plan established pursuant to this Section and with State and federal laws and regulations relating to the employment of women and minorities. A determination by the Authority as to whether a party to a contract with the Authority has achieved the goals or employed the methods for increasing participation by women and minorities shall be determined in accordance with the terms of such contracts or the applicable provisions of rules and regulations of the Authority existing at the time such contract was executed, including any provisions for consideration of good faith efforts at compliance which the Authority may reasonably adopt. (b) The Authority shall adopt and maintain minority-owned and women-owned business enterprise procurement programs under the affirmative action program described in subsection (a) for any and all work undertaken by the Authority. That work shall include, but is not limited to, the purchase of professional services, construction services, supplies, materials, and equipment. The programs shall establish goals of awarding not less than 25% of the annual dollar value of all contracts, purchase orders, or other agreements (collectively referred to as "contracts") to minority-owned businesses and 5% of the annual dollar value of all contracts to women-owned businesses. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the programs shall require in connection with the prequalification or consideration of vendors for professional service contracts, construction contracts, and contracts for supplies, materials, equipment, and services that each proposer or bidder submit as part of his or her proposal or bid a commitment detailing how he or she will expend 25% or more of the dollar value of his or her contracts with one or more minority-owned businesses and 5% or more of the dollar value with one or more women-owned businesses. Bids or proposals that do not include such detailed commitments are not responsive and shall be rejected unless the Authority deems it appropriate to grant a waiver of these requirements. In addition the Authority may, in connection with the selection of providers of professional services, reserve the right to select a minority-owned or women-owned business or businesses to fulfill the commitment to minority and woman business participation. The commitment to minority and woman business participation may be met by the contractor or professional service provider's status as a minority-owned or women-owned business, by joint venture or by subcontracting a portion of the work with or purchasing materials for the work from one or more such businesses, or by any combination thereof. Each contract shall require the contractor or provider to submit a certified monthly report detailing the status of that contractor or provider's compliance with the Authority's minority-owned and women-owned business enterprise procurement program. The Authority, after reviewing the monthly reports of the contractors and providers, shall compile a comprehensive report regarding compliance with this procurement program and file it quarterly with the General Assembly. If, in connection with a particular contract, the Authority determines that it is impracticable or excessively costly to obtain minority-owned or women-owned businesses to perform sufficient work to fulfill the commitment required by this subsection, the Authority shall reduce or waive the commitment in the contract, as may be appropriate. The Authority shall establish rules and regulations setting forth the standards to be used in determining whether or not a reduction or waiver is appropriate. The terms "minority-owned business" and "women-owned business" have the meanings given to those terms in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act. (c) The Authority shall adopt and maintain an affirmative action program in connection with the hiring of minorities and women on the Expansion Project and on any and all construction projects undertaken by the Authority. The program shall be designed to promote equal employment opportunity and shall specify the goals and methods for increasing the participation of minorities and women in a representative mix of job classifications required to perform the respective contracts awarded by the Authority. (d) In connection with the Expansion Project, the Authority shall incorporate the following elements into its minority-owned and women-owned business procurement programs to the extent feasible: (1) a major contractors program that permits minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses to bear significant responsibility and risk for a portion of the project; (2) a mentor/protege program that provides financial, technical, managerial, equipment, and personnel support to minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses; (3) an emerging firms program that includes minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses that would not otherwise qualify for the project due to inexperience or limited resources; (4) a small projects program that includes participation by smaller minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses on jobs where the total dollar value is $5,000,000 or less; and (5) a set-aside program that will identify contracts requiring the expenditure of funds less than $50,000 for bids to be submitted solely by minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses. (e) The Authority is authorized to enter into agreements with contractors' associations, labor unions, and the contractors working on the Expansion Project to establish an Apprenticeship Preparedness Training Program to provide for an increase in the number of minority and women journeymen and apprentices in the building trades and to enter into agreements with Community College District 508 to provide readiness training. The Authority is further authorized to enter into contracts with public and private educational institutions and persons in the hospitality industry to provide training for employment in the hospitality industry. (f) McCormick Place Advisory Board. There is created a McCormick Place Advisory Board composed as follows: 2 members shall be appointed by the Mayor of Chicago; 2 members shall be appointed by the Governor; 2 members shall be State Senators appointed by the President of the Senate; 2 members shall be State Senators appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; 2 members shall be State Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 2 members shall be State Representatives appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. The terms of all previously appointed members of the Advisory Board expire on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly. A State Senator or State Representative member may appoint a designee to serve on the McCormick Place Advisory Board in his or her absence. A "member of a minority group" shall mean a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is any of the following: (1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person having origins in any of the original