Earlier this month, the Deforestation-Free Illinois Act (SB2157/HB3197) was filed that would prevent the State of Illinois from procuring goods from a variety of agricultural sectors: beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm oil, paper/pulp, soy, and lumber if those goods contain inputs that were grown or harvested on land that was cleared of primary forest, degraded, or subject to human rights violations.
Read the full letter to Governor Pritzker here.
Introduced by State Senator Rachel Ventura and State Representative Daniel Didech, the bill is a procurement reform bill with a climate change focus and a corporate due diligence orientation as it calls for contractor oversight of its supply chain to ensure that forests are not cut down in the production of the regulated goods – that being the top forest-risk commodities linked to deforestation and which are a prime driver of climate change.
The bill is also an economic development initiative as it creates incentives for small, medium sized, women and minority owned as well as companies that source goods using Illinois state products via a 10% price differential preference program.
While the focus of the bill is on curbing environmentally harmful business practices, the legislation would not only be beneficial to the state’s fight against climate change but will have a direct and positive impact on the stimulation of Illinois business, particularly the small and medium sized businesses that drive job creation. Here are a number of reasons why:
1. The legislation helps level Illinois’ competitive landscape.
2. The legislation will create opportunities for small and medium sized business growth.
3. The Legislation will create business opportunities to Illinois’ agricultural sector.
Passage of the bill makes both economic and environmental sense. For a relatively small increase in regulatory requirements, the bill would help address several key issues facing the State of Illinois: climate change, biodiversity loss, effective procurement, MWBE business growth, and private sector economic development. It is good for Illinois and for Illinoisans.
