Sen. Napoleon Harris III is pushing Amtrak to help foster the growth of minority businesses. | Shutterstock
Sen. Napoleon Harris III is pushing Amtrak to help foster the growth of minority businesses. | Shutterstock
A Dolton lawmaker is using public outlets to pressure Amtrak to provide procurement goals to give female-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses a fairer chance at landing a contact from the transportation giant and increase diversity.
"In order to ensure that our small and minority businesses are getting a fair opportunity to participate in transportation contracts, we must urge all our railroad companies to set goals to increase diversity," Sen. Napoleon Harris III (D-Dolton) said in an April 23 Facebook post.
The Railroad Supplier Diversity Act allows those classified as Class I railroad companies to submit a report annually that contains the yearly goals for diversity businesses. The legislation from Harris and other lawmakers adds Amtrak to the list of railroad companies that could submit these proposals.
Senate Bill 2424 was approved by the Senate, and now the bill will go to the House for a vote.
If approved, Amtrak could include information as to how business owners could take advantage of the opportunity and how the company could collaborate with the correct government agency to expedite the process.
“Every business in Illinois should care about increasing diversity – especially businesses like railroads that benefit from major government investments,” Harris said in a statement. “I hope this legislation will increase revenue and resources for these small and minority businesses, but if we don’t see progress, I’m prepared to increase requirements further.”
The bill has significant support and has a good chance to pass its upcoming House vote.
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