HR0687 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0687 LRB103 40001 MST 71310 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Tollway are driving forces for increasing economic opportunities in the State of Illinois, as both organizations seek to provide assistance to small and diverse businesses and individuals interested in doing business in ways that ensure equity, access, and transparency; and

WHEREAS, Both the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Tollway provide small and diverse businesses and individuals with opportunities to grow and succeed through training programs, strategic partnerships, and investments in infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, These programs support long-term success through training and business development opportunities, as well as a multitude of economic opportunities created by investments in infrastructure and the resources to ensure continued growth in a high-demand industry; and

WHEREAS, Through its Move Illinois Program, the Illinois Tollway committed more than $2.9 billion to small, diverse, and veteran-owned firms in construction and professional services; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Transportation has certified over 2,945 diverse businesses in Illinois; in 2023, IDOT achieved nearly 19% diverse business utilization on Federal Highway Administration-funded projects; and

WHEREAS, Now, programs like these for minority-owned and women-owned businesses (M/W/DBE) are at risk across the nation; and

WHEREAS, In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Fair Admissions v. Harvard that the university's use of race considerations in their undergraduate admissions processes was impermissible, sparking litigation in an attempt to extend that reasoning to other settings, such as transportation and infrastructure contracting; and

WHEREAS, A number of cases challenging M/W/DBE programs are now before federal courts across the United States; and

WHEREAS, Mid-America Milling Company v. USDOT was filed in October 2023; plaintiffs, who are based in southern Indiana, have requested that the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky enter a nationwide USDOT DBE injunction; the plaintiffs assert that the DBE program is unconstitutional because it ultimately uses race and gender in government contracting decisions; the plaintiffs in this case rely heavily upon the recently-decided U.S. Supreme Court decision in Fair Admissions v. Harvard; and

WHEREAS, In Landscape Consultants of Texas and Metropolitan Landscape Management v. City of Houston and Midtown Management District, plaintiffs have filed a case in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas in September 2023 that challenges local M/W/DBE programs under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution; discovery in that case ends in June 2025, and one or both parties are expected to file motions for summary judgment shortly thereafter; the threat of similar legislation impacts M/W/DBE programs employed by local governments such as the City of Chicago; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage the utilization of small, diverse, and veteran-owned firms, as M/WBE and DBE programs have demonstrated success in promoting economic opportunity, equity and access; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we support federal DBE standards and programs to ensure the success of the Illinois Department of Transportation's DBE Program; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to take action to protect the USDOT DBE program and M/WBE and DBE programs overall.