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90_HB1292
New Act
Creates the Illinois Affirmative Action Apprentice
Program Act. Establishes guidelines for programs under the
Act regarding State construction contracts.
LRB9003079LDdv
LRB9003079LDdv
1 AN ACT in relation to affirmative action apprentice
2 programs.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Illinois Affirmative Action Apprentice Program Act.
7 Section 5. Statement of policy. Is is the policy of the
8 State of Illinois to ensure full and equitable employment
9 opportunities for minorities and females in the building
10 trades on all State construction contracts. Lack of
11 employment opportunities for minorities and females in the
12 building trades impedes economic development and contributes
13 to the social ills of Illinois residents. Federal and State
14 regulations prohibit discrimination because of race, color,
15 religion, sex, or national origin in employment and training
16 programs. Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act
17 provides that every party to a public contract shall
18 undertake affirmative action to ensure equality of employment
19 opportunity and eliminate the effects of past discrimination.
20 The State is committed to ensuring that minorities and
21 females are provided training and self-improvement
22 opportunities in the building trades on State construction
23 contracts to assist in their increased employment in the
24 building trades.
25 Section 10. Program.
26 (a) To facilitate the provision of training
27 opportunities for minorities and women in the building
28 trades, the Director of the Capitol Development Board and
29 Secretary of Transportation shall designate specific
30 contracts let by the respective agencies as subject to an
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1 affirmative action apprentice program.
2 (b) In selecting contracts for participation in the
3 affirmative action apprentice program and in establishing the
4 applicable goals for each selected contract, the Director of
5 the Capital Development Board and Secretary of Transportation
6 shall consider the following criteria:
7 (1) The nature of a project to ensure that it has
8 the potential for providing effective training
9 opportunities.
10 (2) Duration of the contract, work schedules for
11 project completion, and labor intensiveness of work
12 areas.
13 (3) Magnitude or dollar amount of the contract.
14 (4) Scope of work to be performed.
15 (5) Total normal building trade work force that the
16 average low bidder could be expected to use.
17 (6) The ratio of apprentices to journeymen that it
18 would be feasible for the average lower bidder to use as
19 part of the contractor's work force during normal
20 operations, including the consideration of the relevant
21 provisions of any applicable collective bargaining
22 agreement.
23 (c) For each designated contract subject to the
24 affirmative action apprentice program, the Director of the
25 Capital Development Board and the Secretary of Transportation
26 shall jointly establish goals for the number of minority and
27 female apprentices in the building trades to be assigned work
28 on the contract, expressed in terms of hours of assigned
29 work, 1,000 hours being equivalent to approximately 6 months
30 of full-time employment. The bidder shall commit to the
31 employment of minority and female apprentices on the contract
32 equal to or greater than each of the applicable goals.
33 (d) If the bidder finds it impossible to meet the
34 established goals, the bidder may seek a waiver from the
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1 Director or the Secretary accompanied by such documentation
2 as requested by the Director of the Capital Development Board
3 or the Secretary of Transportation, as applicable, that
4 sufficient qualified minorities and females to meet the goals
5 were unavailable despite the bidder's making all reasonable
6 good faith efforts in recruiting minorities and females for
7 the training positions. The Director of the Capital
8 Development Board or the Secretary of Transportation, as
9 applicable, may grant the waiver request upon the
10 determination that sufficient qualified minorities and
11 females are not available for employment in the applicable
12 training programs to meet the established goals despite the
13 good faith efforts of the bidder to recruit minorities and
14 females or that applicable collective bargaining agreement
15 provisions would prohibit the employment of apprentices on
16 the project to the extent required by the established goals.
17 (e) Whenever a bidder's contractor subcontracts a
18 portion of the work involving any construction trade, the
19 subcontractor shall be subject, with subcontracts in excess
20 of $10,000, to the same affirmative action goals applicable
21 to the contractor, unless the Director of the Capital
22 Development Board or the Secretary of Transportation, as
23 applicable, grants the subcontractor a partial or total
24 waiver of the established goals.
25 (f) Within 10 days following the approval of the
26 contractor's required Bond, the contractor shall submit to
27 the Director of the Capital Development Board or the
28 Secretary of Transportation, as applicable, a proposed
29 training program specifying the number of apprentices to be
30 trained in each selected classification and the corresponding
31 training programs to be used. In the event a subcontract is
32 let for a portion of the work, the contractor may determine
33 the extent to which apprentices are to be trained by the
34 subcontractor, but the contractor shall retain responsibility
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1 for meeting the applicable goals.
2 (g) A contractor's training program will be approved
3 only if it meets the standards set forth with regard to:
4 (1) The primary objectives of training and
5 upgrading minority and female workers.
6 (2) The approval of training programs by the
7 Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, except with
8 respect to any established training program for laborers.
9 (3) Whether the classifications proposed are
10 appropriate for the specific project. The character,
11 duration, and nature of the project operations shall
12 readily support the proposed training program.
13 (h) If the contractor's submission is not acceptable, or
14 if in the opinion of the Director of the Capital Development
15 Board or the Secretary of Transportation, as applicable, the
16 character, duration, or nature of the project operations
17 cannot support the proposed training classification, the
18 training program will not be approved. The contractor's
19 submission will be returned for correction and resubmission.
20 (i) The contractor shall submit to the Director of the
21 Capital Development Board or the Secretary of Transportation,
22 as applicable, a monthly report, as specified by the Director
23 or Secretary, detailing the usage of apprentices during the
24 prior month.
25 (j) When the Director of the Capital Development Board
26 or the Secretary of Transportation, as applicable, has
27 determined that the contractor has failed to comply with any
28 of the apprentice program requirements, the Director or
29 Secretary may notify the contractor of any non-compliance and
30 withhold up to 50% of the current progress or final payment
31 due the contractor until it is determined that the contractor
32 is in compliance or that despite the contractor's making all
33 reasonable good faith efforts, it is unable to meet the
34 established goals.
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1 (k) The contractor shall include all costs of compliance
2 for the apprentice program in its bid. The contractor shall
3 not be entitled to any additional compensation from the State
4 for additional costs, delays, or expenses of any kind arising
5 out of or resulting from the implementation of this program
6 in the contract.
7 (l) The affirmative action apprentices program and this
8 Act shall not be construed or enforced to permit
9 discrimination against any individual on the basis of race,
10 color, sex, or national origin with respect to employment or
11 training opportunities on State contracts.
12 (m) The Director of the Capital Development Board and
13 the Secretary of Transportation shall submit, at least once
14 each calendar quarter, a report to the Governor and General
15 Assembly detailing their implementation of the affirmative
16 action apprentices program, and the compliance of contractors
17 with this Act.
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