Armed with a new “disparity study” mandated by a federal judge, the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity agreed to extend one of the last surviving construction set-aside programs in the country but keep the set-aide percentages the same.
Through December 2027, the city will earmark 26% of all construction contracts for companies owned by minorities and 6% of those contracts for firms controlled by women.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.