PROCUREMENT COMMUNICATIONS

Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that proposals or bids submitted by engineering consultants in response to requests for proposal or other competitive bidding requests by the Department of Transportation or the Illinois Toll Highway Authority are exempt from disclosure under the Act. Amends the Illinois Procurement Code. Provides that the following communications are among the types of communications that are not required to be reported to the Procurement Policy Board: (i) communications providing general information about a firm's products or services or industry best practices, provided those products or services are not directly related to an open procurement matter, and (ii) proposal deficiency communications under a specified provision of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act. Amends the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act. Provides that, as part of the State agency's commitment to fostering greater diversity in contracting, the State agency may communicate with firms who were not selected in order to provide further information about the firm's proposal deficiencies.