Illinois Acts to Improve State Procurement

In the wake of scandals involving disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and a culture of “pay to play” deals in which political contributions were exchanged for government contracts, state lawmakers and Governor Pat Quinn in 2009 enacted several pieces of reform legislation intended to stop similar fraud and abuse.   However, problems quickly became apparent with some of the more extreme proposals passed in haste, and five years later, the repercussions are still being felt with unintended consequences for the contracting community and taxpayers who benefit from the legitimate constituent services they provide.

There is good news on the horizon for Illinois.  Beginning January 1, 2015, a new procurement law, Public Act 098-1076, goes into effect making changes to Illinois’ Procurement Code, the Governmental Joint Purchasing Act, the Discriminatory Club Act, and the Small Business Contracts Act. The law will streamline and expedite the procurement process while preserving transparency to guard against fraud and abuse. 

One of the law’s most significant changes is the expansion of the authority of Chief Procurement Officers (CPO).  The new CPO authority includes the discretion to determine the method of solicitation and contract for all procurements pursuant to the Procurement Code.  CPOs will also have the power to develop uniform documents for the solicitation, review, and acceptances of all bids, offers, responses and the award of contracts, and to request copies of subcontracts.  The new law also clarifies that a contractor seeking to protect proprietary or confidential information may request it to be excluded from the public record.  Additionally, CPOs are granted rulemaking authority, in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedures Act, and are authorized to conduct informational outreach to small businesses on how to contract with the state.

Other significant changes include:

  1. Authorizing notices and reports to be made by either paper or electronic means. 
  2. Exempting purchases of goods or supplies that are incidental to the performance of a contract from the definition of subcontract.   
  3. Requiring a contract to identify whether subcontractors will be used, and listing the names and addresses of all subcontractors with an annual value of more than $50,000.
  4. Mandating that financial interest disclosure statements must accompany all bids and offers with an annual value of more than $50,000 (up from $25,000) from a bidder, offeror, potential contractor, contractor and subcontractor.
  5. Clarifying that the Illinois procurement code equally applies to bidders, offerors, and potential contractors in certain circumstances. 

Finally, the legislation provides streamlining and clarification, as well as statutory cleanup, through a series of new definitions.   All of these revisions are welcome developments to the contracting process in Illinois.

Public Policy Tags: Public Sector

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