• PURPOSE: Make improvements to how the State conducts business with nonprofit community partners who are managing State grants/contracts, with an emphasis on improving the timeliness and predictability of payments
• SUPPORTED BY:  Forefront, Illinois Health and Human Services Coalition
• IMPACT: Codifies timeframes ensure state contractors receive grant agreements, contracts, payments, and communications in a timely manner to ensure the continuity of service delivery; Aims to improve workforce stability by ensuring grants/contracts don’t arbitrarily allocate costs; Streamlines Court of Claims process for all parties
• EQUITY NOTE: Organizations with the smallest budgets and serving Communities of Color are the most likely to face challenges with the State’s contracting and payment systems per 2023 survey
• FACT SHEET and Related Research

Background: 

Illinois’ contracting processes involve multiple state entities, including executive branch agencies (grant agreements and contracts), the State Comptroller and State Treasurer (payments), the Attorney General and Secretary of State (Court of Claims). Contractors may deal with all of these entities – often for multiple grants and contracts - and the process can be opaque and convoluted. When GATA was first passed 10 years ago, it was intended to standardize grant and contract processes across state government. In reality, multiple processes continue to proliferate across agencies, and there has not been a comprehensive update to the statutes that govern state grantmaking in many years. The Community Partner Fair Contracting Act will reduce confusion and create administrative efficiencies among both State agencies and contractors/grantees. Ask your legislators to cosponsor these bills as a signal of support for the efforts to improve government contracting for community-based partners.