Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 093-0307
Illinois General Assembly

Previous General Assemblies

Public Act 093-0307


 

Public Act 93-0307 of the 93rd General Assembly


Public Act 93-0307

HB0102 Enrolled                      LRB093 02622 JAM 02632 b

    AN ACT concerning forced labor.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  1.  Short  title.   This Act may be cited as the
State Prohibition of Goods from Forced Labor Act.

    Section 5.  Policy. The General Assembly hereby finds and
declares as follows:
    (a)  The people of Illinois do not support the import  of
any  goods  made by forced, convict, or indentured labor, not
only because it is a cruel suppression of the human right  of
free  labor  and  employment  practices,  but also because it
creates an unfair trade advantage for the forced, convict, or
indentured labor country.
    (b)  The federal Tariff Act of  1930,  while  prohibiting
the  importation of any goods produced in whole or in part by
forced,  convict,  or  indentured  labor,  does  not  require
importers to provide certificates of origin at  the  time  of
importation  to  affirm  and guarantee no forced, convict, or
indentured labor content.
    (c)  The federal Tariff Act of 1930 also does not require
the  United  States  Customs  Service  to  have  an   active,
self-initiated  foreign  surveillance  program  of  detecting
forced,   convict,   or   indentured   labor-made  goods  and
preventing their entry into the  United  States,  but  relies
primarily  upon  complaints  made  by  the  public  or  other
interested groups.
    (d)  The  State  of  Illinois wholeheartedly supports the
prohibition on imports  produced  in  whole  or  in  part  by
forced,  convict, or indentured labor and shall not knowingly
acquire any of those goods.
    Section 10.  Contract certification.
    (a)  Every contract entered into by any State agency  for
the  procurement  of equipment, materials, or supplies, other
than procurement related to a  public  works  contract,  must
specify   that   no  foreign-made  equipment,  materials,  or
supplies furnished to the State under  the  contract  may  be
produced  in whole or in part by forced labor, convict labor,
or indentured labor under  penal  sanction.   The  contractor
must agree to comply with this provision of the contract.
    (b)  Any  contractor  contracting with the State who knew
that  the  foreign-made  equipment,  materials,  or  supplies
furnished to the State were produced  in  whole  or  part  by
forced  labor, convict labor, or indentured labor under penal
sanction, when entering into a contract under subsection (a),
may, subject to subsection  (c),  have  any  or  all  of  the
following sanctions imposed:
         (1)  The   contract   under   which  the  prohibited
    equipment, materials, or supplies were  provided  may  be
    voided  at  the  option  of the State agency to which the
    equipment, materials, or supplies were provided.
         (2)  The contractor may be assessed a penalty  which
    must  be  the greater of $1,000 or an amount equaling 20%
    of the value of the  equipment,  materials,  or  supplies
    that the State agency demonstrates were produced in whole
    or  in part by forced labor, convict labor, or indentured
    labor under penal sanction and that were supplied to  the
    State agency under the contract.
         (3)  The contractor may be suspended from bidding on
    a State contract for a period not to exceed 360 days.
    Any  moneys  collected  under  this  subsection  shall be
deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
    (c)  When imposing the sanctions described in  subsection
(b), the contracting agency must notify the contractor of the
right to a hearing if requested within 15 days after the date
of  the notice.  The hearing must be before an administrative
law judge according to the Illinois Administrative  Procedure
Act.  The administrative law judge must consider any measures
the  contractor  has  taken  to  ensure  compliance with this
Section and may waive any or all of the sanctions  if  it  is
determined that the contractor has acted in good faith.
    The   agency   must   be   assessed   the   cost  of  the
administrative hearing, unless the agency  has  prevailed  in
the  hearing,  in which case the contractor shall be assessed
the cost of the hearing.
    (d)  Any  State  agency  that  investigates  a  complaint
against a contractor for violation of this Section must limit
its investigation to evaluating the information  provided  by
the  person  or  entity  submitting  the  complaint  and  the
information provided by the contractor.
    (e)  For  purposes  of  this  Section,  the  term "forced
labor" has the same meaning as in the federal Tariff  Act  of
1930.

Effective Date: 01/01/04