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[ House Amendment 001 ] |
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 -2- LRB9003079LDdv 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 -3- LRB9003079LDdv 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 -4- LRB9003079LDdv 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. -5- LRB9003079LDdv 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.