Bill Text: IL HB5591 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. In a provision granting a school board the power to award certain contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, provides for an exception for contracts that give a preference to State, regional, or local suppliers (rather than only State or regional suppliers) that source local food products.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2026-03-27 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5591 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB5591-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026HB5591 Introduced , by Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/10-20.21
Amends the School Code. In a provision granting a school board the power to award certain contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, provides for an exception for contracts that give a preference to State, regional, or local suppliers (rather than only State or regional suppliers) that source local food products.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
10-20.21 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-20.21)
Sec. 10-20.21. Contracts.
(a) To award all contracts for purchase of supplies and
materials or work involving an expenditure in excess of
$35,000 or a lower amount as required by board policy to the
lowest responsible bidder, considering conformity with
specifications, terms of delivery, quality and serviceability,
after due advertisement, except the following:
(i) contracts for the services of individuals
possessing a high degree of professional skill where the
ability or fitness of the individual plays an important
part;
(ii) contracts for the printing of finance committee
reports and departmental reports;
(iii) contracts for the printing or engraving of
bonds, tax warrants and other evidences of indebtedness;
(iv) contracts for the purchase of perishable foods
and perishable beverages;

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(v) contracts for materials and work which have been
awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after due
advertisement, but due to unforeseen revisions, not the
fault of the contractor for materials and work, must be
revised causing expenditures not in excess of 10% of the
contract price;
(vi) contracts for the maintenance or servicing of, or
provision of repair parts for, equipment which are made
with the manufacturer or authorized service agent of that
equipment where the provision of parts, maintenance, or
servicing can best be performed by the manufacturer or
authorized service agent;
(vii) purchases and contracts for the use, purchase,
delivery, movement, or installation of data processing
equipment, software, or services and telecommunications
and interconnect equipment, software, and services;
(viii) contracts for duplicating machines and
supplies;
(ix) contracts for the purchase of fuel, including
diesel, gasoline, oil, aviation, natural gas, or propane,
lubricants, or other petroleum products;
(x) purchases of equipment previously owned by some
entity other than the district itself;
(xi) contracts for repair, maintenance, remodeling,
renovation, or construction, or a single project involving
an expenditure not to exceed $50,000 and not involving a

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change or increase in the size, type, or extent of an
existing facility;
(xii) contracts for goods or services procured from
another governmental agency;
(xiii) contracts for goods or services which are
economically procurable from only one source, such as for
the purchase of magazines, books, periodicals, pamphlets
and reports, and for utility services such as water,
light, heat, telephone or telegraph;
(xiv) where funds are expended in an emergency and
such emergency expenditure is approved by 3/4 of the
members of the board;
(xv) State master contracts authorized under Article
28A of this Code;
(xvi) contracts providing for the transportation of
pupils, which contracts must be advertised in the same
manner as competitive bids and awarded by first
considering the bidder or bidders most able to provide
safety and comfort for the pupils, stability of service,
and any other factors set forth in the request for
proposal regarding quality of service, and then price; and
(xvii) contracts for goods, services, or management in
the operation of a school's food service, including a
school that participates in any of the United States
Department of Agriculture's child nutrition programs if a
good faith effort is made on behalf of the school district

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to give preference to:
(1) contracts that procure food that promotes the
health and well-being of students, in compliance with
United States Department of Agriculture nutrition
standards for school meals. Contracts should also
promote the production of scratch made, minimally
processed foods;
(2) contracts that give a preference to State, or
regional, or local suppliers that source local food
products;
(3) contracts that give a preference to food
suppliers that utilize producers that adopt hormone
and pest management practices recommended by the
United States Department of Agriculture;
(4) contracts that give a preference to food
suppliers that value animal welfare; and
(5) contracts that increase opportunities for
businesses owned and operated by minorities, women, or
persons with disabilities.
Food supplier data shall be submitted to the school
district at the time of the bid, to the best of the
bidder's ability, and updated annually thereafter during
the term of the contract. The contractor shall submit the
updated food supplier data. The data required under this
item (xvii) shall include the name and address of each
supplier, distributor, processor, and producer involved in

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the provision of the products that the bidder is to
supply.
However, at no time shall a cause of action lie against a
school board for awarding a pupil transportation contract per
the standards set forth in this subsection (a) unless the
cause of action is based on fraudulent conduct.
All competitive bids for contracts involving an
expenditure in excess of $35,000 or a lower amount as required
by board policy must be sealed by the bidder and must be opened
by a member or employee of the school board at a public bid
opening at which the contents of the bids must be announced.
Each bidder must receive at least 3 days' notice of the time
and place of the bid opening. For purposes of this Section due
advertisement includes, but is not limited to, at least one
public notice at least 10 days before the bid date in a
newspaper published in the district, or if no newspaper is
published in the district, in a newspaper of general
circulation in the area of the district. State master
contracts and certified education purchasing contracts, as
defined in Article 28A of this Code, are not subject to the
requirements of this paragraph.
Under this Section, the acceptance of bids sealed by a
bidder and the opening of these bids at a public bid opening
may be permitted by an electronic process for communicating,
accepting, and opening competitive bids. An electronic bidding
process must provide for, but is not limited to, the following

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safeguards:
(1) On the date and time certain of a bid opening, the
primary person conducting the competitive, sealed,
electronic bid process shall log onto a specified database
using a unique username and password previously assigned
to the bidder to allow access to the bidder's specific bid
project number.
(2) The specified electronic database must be on a
network that (i) is in a secure environment behind a
firewall; (ii) has specific encryption tools; (iii)
maintains specific intrusion detection systems; (iv) has
redundant systems architecture with data storage back-up,
whether by compact disc or tape; and (v) maintains a
disaster recovery plan.
It is the legislative intent of Public Act 96-841 to maintain
the integrity of the sealed bidding process provided for in
this Section, to further limit any possibility of bid-rigging,
to reduce administrative costs to school districts, and to
effect efficiencies in communications with bidders.
(b) To require, as a condition of any contract for goods
and services, that persons bidding for and awarded a contract
and all affiliates of the person collect and remit Illinois
Use Tax on all sales of tangible personal property into the
State of Illinois in accordance with the provisions of the
Illinois Use Tax Act regardless of whether the person or
affiliate is a "retailer maintaining a place of business

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within this State" as defined in Section 2 of the Use Tax Act.
For purposes of this Section, the term "affiliate" means any
entity that (1) directly, indirectly, or constructively
controls another entity, (2) is directly, indirectly, or
constructively controlled by another entity, or (3) is subject
to the control of a common entity. For purposes of this
subsection (b), an entity controls another entity if it owns,
directly or individually, more than 10% of the voting
securities of that entity. As used in this subsection (b), the
term "voting security" means a security that (1) confers upon
the holder the right to vote for the election of members of the
board of directors or similar governing body of the business
or (2) is convertible into, or entitles the holder to receive
upon its exercise, a security that confers such a right to
vote. A general partnership interest is a voting security.
To require that bids and contracts include a certification
by the bidder or contractor that the bidder or contractor is
not barred from bidding for or entering into a contract under
this Section and that the bidder or contractor acknowledges
that the school board may declare the contract void if the
certification completed pursuant to this subsection (b) is
false.
(b-5) To require all contracts and agreements that pertain
to goods and services and that are intended to generate
additional revenue and other remunerations for the school
district in excess of $1,000, including without limitation

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vending machine contracts, sports and other attire, class
rings, and photographic services, to be approved by the school
board. The school board shall file as an attachment to its
annual budget a report, in a form as determined by the State
Board of Education, indicating for the prior year the name of
the vendor, the product or service provided, and the actual
net revenue and non-monetary remuneration from each of the
contracts or agreements. In addition, the report shall
indicate for what purpose the revenue was used and how and to
whom the non-monetary remuneration was distributed.
(b-10) To prohibit any contract to purchase food with a
bidder or offeror if the bidder's or offeror's contract terms
prohibit the school from donating food to food banks,
including, but not limited to, homeless shelters, food
pantries, and soup kitchens.
(c) If the State education purchasing entity creates a
master contract as defined in Article 28A of this Code, then
the State education purchasing entity shall notify school
districts of the existence of the master contract.
(d) In purchasing supplies, materials, equipment, or
services that are not subject to subsection (c) of this
Section, before a school district solicits bids or awards a
contract, the district may review and consider as a bid under
subsection (a) of this Section certified education purchasing
contracts that are already available through the State
education purchasing entity.

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(Source: P.A. 102-1101, eff. 6-29-22; 103-8, eff. 1-1-24.)