Public Act 0126 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0381 Enrolled LRB094 06805 RLC 36907 b

Public Act 094-0126

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

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

Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by adding Section 17-29 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/17-29 new)

Sec. 17-29. Businesses owned by minorities, females, and persons with disabilities; fraudulent contracts with governmental units.

(a) In this Section:

"Minority person" means a person who is: (1) African American (a person having origins in any of the black racial groups in Africa); (2) Hispanic (a person of Spanish or Portuguese culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race); (3) Asian American (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent or the Pacific Islands); or (4) Native American or Alaskan Native (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America).

"Female" means a person who is of the female gender.

"Person with a disability" means a person who is a person qualifying as being disabled.

"Disabled" means a severe physical or mental disability that: (1) results from: amputation, arthritis, autism, blindness, burn injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness, head injury, heart disease, hemiplegia, hemophilia, respiratory or pulmonary dysfunction, mental retardation, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, including stroke and epilepsy, paraplegia, quadriplegia and other spinal cord conditions, sickle cell anemia, specific learning disabilities, or end stage renal failure disease; and (2) substantially limits one or more of the person's major life activities.

"Minority owned business" means a business concern that is at least 51% owned by one or more minority persons, or in the case of a corporation, at least 51% of the stock in which is owned by one or more minority persons; and the management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more of the minority individuals who own it.

"Female owned business" means a business concern that is at least 51% owned by one or more females, or, in the case of a corporation, at least 51% of the stock in which is owned by one or more females; and the management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more of the females who own it.

"Business owned by a person with a disability" means a business concern that is at least 51% owned by one or more persons with a disability and the management and daily business operations of which are controlled by one or more of the persons with disabilities who own it. A not-for-profit agency for persons with disabilities that is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is also considered a "business owned by a person with a disability".

"Governmental unit" means the State, a unit of local government, or school district.

(b) In addition to any other penalties imposed by law or by an ordinance or resolution of a unit of local government or school district, any individual or entity that knowingly obtains, or knowingly assists another to obtain, a contract with a governmental unit by falsely representing that the individual or entity, or the individual or entity assisted, is a minority owned business, female owned business, or business owned by a person with a disability is guilty of a Class 2 felony, regardless of whether the preference for awarding the contract to a minority owned business, female owned business, or business owned by a person with a disability was established by statute or by local ordinance or resolution.

(c) In addition to any other penalties authorized by law, the court shall order that an individual or entity convicted of a violation of this Section must pay to the governmental unit that awarded the contract a penalty equal to one and one-half times the amount of the contract obtained because of the false representation.

Effective Date: 1/1/2006