Dear Colleagues,
Recently, Public Act 102-0029 made several changes to the State of Illinois Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, “BEP ACT”, (30 ILCS 575/) and the Illinois Procurement Code (30 ILCS 500) that affect the university’s responsibilities. One important change is that the Act establishes that “not less than 30% of the total dollar amount of State contracts, as defined by the Secretary of the Council and approved by the Council, shall be established as a goal to be awarded to businesses owned by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.”
The Act also created a Commission on Equity and Inclusion that will have a number of duties and responsibilities, including the “powers and duties of the Commission as provided under this Section shall be exercised alongside, but independent of, that of the Procurement Policy Board.” (30 ILCS 500/5-7(a). A change was also made to the method of scoring section of 30 ILCS 500/20-15(e-5)(2) for solicitations providing “Factors to be considered in the award of these points for the commitment to diversity component shall be set by rule by the applicable chief procurement officer.” This is a newly created commission made up of seven members appointed by the Governor (no more than four from one political party) that has parallel authority to the Procurement Policy Board on issues related to contracts, solicitations, sole sources, emergency purchase, small dollar purchases, hold hearings, etc.
These are significant and important changes, and the university fully supports the new guidance. To strengthen this work, the Purchasing Office has created an online portal with 1800+ certified BEP vendors and suppliers that can be found on this website. This list is available to search by topic or commodity code. I encourage you to visit this website, as it is updated monthly with new certified vendors.
We are also working with the University of Illinois System, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and our community partners to promote this program and provide information about how businesses can become certified. We hope to offer informational sessions in the coming months.
Please feel free to share this message widely with your teams. This is a vitally important effort that we should all prioritize.
Sincerely,
Michael T. DeLorenzo
Vice Chancellor for Administration and Operations
