30 ILCS 500/20-15
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 30 - FINANCE|30 ILCS 500/ - Illinois Procurement Code.|Article 20 - Source Selection and Contract Formation

Sec. 20-15. Competitive sealed proposals.(a) Conditions for use.  When provided under this Code or under  rules, or when  the purchasing agency determines in writing that the use of  competitive sealed bidding  is either not practicable or not advantageous to the State, a  contract may be entered into by  competitive sealed proposals.(b) Request for proposals.  Proposals shall be solicited  through a request for proposals.(c) Public notice.  Public notice of the request for  proposals shall be published in the  Illinois Procurement Bulletin at least 14 calendar days before the date set  in the invitation for the opening  of proposals.(d) Receipt of proposals.  Proposals shall be opened  publicly or via an electronic procurement system in the presence of one or  more witnesses at the time and place designated in the request for  proposals, but proposals shall  be opened in a manner to avoid disclosure of contents to competing  offerors during the process  of negotiation.  A record of proposals shall be prepared and  shall be open for public inspection  after contract award.(e) Evaluation factors.   The requests for proposals shall  state the relative importance of  price and other evaluation factors.  Proposals shall be submitted  in 3 parts:  the first, price; the second, commitment to diversity; and the third, all other items. Each part of all proposals shall be evaluated and ranked independently of the other parts of all proposals.  The results of the evaluation of all 3 parts shall be used in ranking of proposals.(e-5) Method of scoring.(1) The point scoring methodology for competitive     sealed proposals shall provide points for commitment to diversity.  Those points shall be equivalent to 20% of the points assigned to the third part of the proposal, all other items.(2) Factors to be considered in the award of points     for the commitment to diversity component shall be set by rule by the applicable chief procurement officer and may include, but are not limited to:(A) whether or how well the offeror, on the         solicitation being    evaluated, met the goal of contracting or subcontracting with businesses owned by women, minorities, or persons with disabilities;(B) whether the offeror, on the solicitation         being evaluated, assisted businesses owned by women, minorities, or persons with disabilities in obtaining lines of credit, insurance, necessary equipment, supplies, materials, or related assistance or services;(C) the percentage of prior year revenues of the         offeror that    involve businesses owned by women, minorities, or persons with disabilities;(D) whether the offeror has a written supplier         diversity program, including, but not limited to, use of diverse vendors in the supply chain and a training or mentoring program with businesses owned by women, minorities, or persons with disabilities; and(E) the percentage of members of the offeror's         governing board, senior executives, and managers who are women, minorities, or persons with disabilities.(3) If any State agency or public institution of     higher education contract is eligible to be paid for or reimbursed, in whole or in part, with federal-aid funds, grants, or loans, and the provisions of this subsection (e-5) would result in the loss of those federal-aid funds, grants, or loans, then the contract is exempt from the provisions of this Section in order to remain eligible for those federal-aid funds, grants, or loans.      For the purposes of this subsection (e-5):"Manager" means a person who controls or administers     all or part of a company or similar organization."Minorities" has the same meaning as "minority     person" under Section 2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act."Persons with disabilities" has the same meaning as     "person with a disability" under Section 2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act."Senior executive" means the chief executive officer,     chief operating officer, chief financial officer, or anyone else in charge of a principal business unit or function."Women" has the same meaning as "woman" under Section     2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act.(f) Discussion with responsible offerors and revisions of offers or  proposals.  As provided in the  request for proposals and under rules, discussions  may be conducted with  responsible offerors who submit offers or proposals determined to be  reasonably susceptible of being  selected for award for the purpose of clarifying and assuring full  understanding of and  responsiveness to the solicitation requirements.  Those offerors  shall be accorded fair and equal  treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and  revision of proposals.  Revisions  may be permitted after submission and before award for the  purpose of obtaining best and final  offers.  In conducting discussions there shall be no disclosure of  any information derived from  proposals submitted by competing offerors.   If information is disclosed to any offeror, it shall be  provided to all competing offerors.(g) Award.  Awards shall be made to the responsible offeror  whose proposal is  determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the State,  taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.   The contract file shall contain  the basis on which the award is  made.  (Source: P.A. 101-657, eff. 7-1-21 (See Section 25 of P.A. 102-29 for effective date of 101-657); 102-29, eff. 6-25-21.)