IDOT Conducts Business As Usual Primarily Unaffected By A District Court Order That Bans DBE Goals
At the State of Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), it’s business as usual for all state-funded projects. Bid Requests for projects using any federal funds are being revised when necessary to comply with a Kentucky District Court Order handed down on September 23, 2024. The order instructs the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDoT), and therefore states implementing USDoT contracts, to refrain from using race-based and gender-based conditions in the awarding of contracts that the plaintiffs, Mid-America Milling Company and Bagshaw Trucking, bid on. The Court Order is for a Preliminary Injunction of USDoT’s use of DBE goals for these specific contracts only, and only until the Court can conduct a hearing on the merits of the case.
In its December 13, 2024 “Letting You Know” newsletter, IDOT reminds bidders that compliance with DBE Special Provisions is a material bidding requirement. The statement reads:
“Compliance with this [DBE] Special Provision is a material bidding requirement and failure of the bidder to comply will render the bid not responsive. The bidder shall submit a DBE Utilization Plan (form SBE 2026), and a DBE Participation Statement (form SBE 2025) for each DBE company proposed for the performance of work to achieve the contract goal, with the bid.”
Contracts affected by the Kentucky District Court Order have zero DBE participation goals. The most recent IDOT Bid Bulletin, published January 30th, lists 100 contracts with DBE Goals; only 22 were identified as work the plaintiffs would bid on and therefore have zero DBE participation goals.