State Representative Dan Swanson (R-Alpha) has been appointed by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin to serve as a member of the newly created State Procurement Task Force pursuant to Public Act 102-721. HB 2770 was passed unanimously in the House and Senate as a veteran’s set-aside program. Currently, Central management Services (CMS) sets aside three percent of the total dollar amount of State contracts for veteran owned small businesses. The CPO- General Services believes that the bureaucracy of getting certified is such that most businesses are unable to achieve it, so this bill seeks to allow for veteran owned businesses to be able to receive a greater number of State contracts.
“I am honored to be given the opportunity by Leader Durkin to serve the veterans of Illinois in this capacity to review this program to ensure every part of the state government is providing opportunities for the men and women veterans to succeed back here at home,” commented Rep. Dan Swanson. “Amends the Illinois Procurement Code to permit each chief procurement officer (CPO) has the authority to designate as veteran small business set-asides, a fair proportion of construction, supply, and service contracts for awards to qualified service-disabled veteran owned small businesses (SDVOSB) or veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB.) Provides that, as it pertains to the annual report submitted to CMS, the number of bids will be delineated between contracts that were designated as set-aside, and those that were not designated as set-aside.
An initiative of the CPO-General Services and supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the Illinois Construction Industry Committee, and the Illinois Mechanical & Specialty Contractors Association, some parts of the new law took effect May 6, 2022 and some will take effect January 1, 2023.