SB1354 Summary

• Amends the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975 to establish a business enterprise program requiring the Board to set goals for contract awards to minority-owned, female-owned, and disability-owned businesses, expressed as percentages of total contracts awarded annually.

• Requires horse racing organization licensees and inter-track wagering licensees to file annual reports detailing utilization of and efforts to meet participation goals for disadvantaged business enterprises.

• Excludes certain contracts from goal calculations including those where qualified suppliers are unavailable, the licensee owns the supplier company, or goods/services come from publicly traded companies.

• Allows licensees to request waivers from requirements upon demonstrating good faith compliance efforts, and authorizes the Board to adopt remedies and recommend additional solicitation efforts, contract divisions, or elimination of experience requirements if goals are not met.

• Applies the same business enterprise program requirements to riverboat gambling owners licensees under the Riverboat Gambling Act, with the Board filing annual reports by March 1 detailing three-year goal achievement.