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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1761 | ||||||
2 | (As Amended by Senate Amendment No. 2)
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3 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has had a long-standing | ||||||
4 | statutory goal of spending 20% of all procurement dollars on | ||||||
5 | minority and women-owned businesses; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Investing in minority and women-owned businesses | ||||||
7 | is a central economic development strategy for the State to | ||||||
8 | ensure the businesses that prosper from the State's need for | ||||||
9 | goods and services reflects the diversity of the entire State; | ||||||
10 | and
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11 | WHEREAS, Legal services is one of the components that the | ||||||
12 | State's statutory goal for spending 20% for minority and | ||||||
13 | women-owned businesses apply towards; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, The last year where full data is available on | ||||||
15 | actual spending with minority and women-owned businesses is | ||||||
16 | FY2015; and | ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, In FY2015, the State spent more than $35,000,000 | ||||||
18 | on outside law firms in legal services; and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, Only 4% of the State's legal services in FY15 were | ||||||
20 | with minority and women-owned firms; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The total spent on African-American owned law | ||||||
2 | firms in FY15 was under $200,000, which is significantly less | ||||||
3 | than 1% of the total spent on legal services the entire fiscal | ||||||
4 | year; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Governor Rauner's administration was only | ||||||
6 | responsible for half of the legal services spent in FY15 as the | ||||||
7 | Governor was not inaugurated until the middle of that fiscal | ||||||
8 | year; and
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9 | WHEREAS, While complete data for FY16 is not yet available, | ||||||
10 | there have been a series of procurements for legal services | ||||||
11 | that did not include any goal for minority or women-owned | ||||||
12 | firms, including one posted April 8th for a Swaps Bond Counsel | ||||||
13 | for the Governor's Office of Management and Budget; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Unless the Rauner administration makes a | ||||||
15 | significant effort to increase the participation of minority | ||||||
16 | and women-owned firms in legal spending, the administration is | ||||||
17 | likely on track to dramatically fall short of the statutory | ||||||
18 | goal of 20% participation; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | ||||||
20 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Rauner | ||||||
21 | administration is urged to comply with the statutory goal of |
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1 | 20% participation with minority and women-owned firms, as well | ||||||
2 | as the statutory goal for veteran-owned firms, particularly as | ||||||
3 | it relates to professional services and legal services; and be | ||||||
4 | it further | ||||||
5 | RESOLVED, That the Rauner administration is urged to make | ||||||
6 | every effort for FY16 to satisfy the 20% goal for participation | ||||||
7 | with minority and women-owned firms in professional services as | ||||||
8 | well as the statutory goal for veteran-owned firms, as that is | ||||||
9 | the first full fiscal year completely administered by the | ||||||
10 | Rauner administration; and be it further
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11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
12 | delivered to Governor Rauner.
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