Committee on Contracting Oversight & Equity
Chicago City Council October 14,2021
RESOLUTION CALLING ON THE CITY OF CHICAGO TO CREATE THE HISPANIC INCLUSION PLAN ("HIP")
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council Latino Caucus ("Latino Caucus") is committed to the furtherance of economic opportunity and upward mobility for all Chicago Latinos; and
WHEREAS, The Latino Caucus relies on external economic reportings of the Chicago Latino community because they lack reliable tracking operations at the City of Chicago ("City"); and
WHEREAS, The 2020 U.S. Census revealed that Latinos are the second-largest racial or ethnic group in Chicago, contributing to approximately 31% of Chicago's total population; and
WHEREAS, On September 29, 2021, during the 2022 Budget Hearings, the City's Department of Procurement Services stated that only 13% of the City's contracting opportunities were awarded to Latinos in 2020; and
WHEREAS, The City's contracting opportunities awarded to Latinos in 2020 not only fail to reflect the total Latino population in Chicago, it reveals that Latinos were the least equitably awarded group to contract with the City in 2020; and
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois released a "Hispanic/Latinx FY2020 Employment Plan Report" ("Hispanic; Report") finding that: (1) women make up more than half of the Hispanic/Latinx new hires; (2) the total Hispanic/Latinx employees increased slightly from 6.5% in 2019 to about 7% in 2020; and (3) there is a strong need for more connections and partnerships with Hispanic/Latinx advocacy and career development groups throughout the state about awareness, creation, and building relationships with jobs; and
WHEREAS, Such findings aforementioned collectively support the need for the City to hold greater priority on parity, equity, and accountability for the Chicago Latino community; and
WHEREAS, The Latino Caucus believes that parity and equity within the Latino community can be achieved through actualized initiatives developed by the City that track local economic progress, barriers, and allow for transparency; and
WHEREAS, On the 53rd anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month, the City has an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to Latinos' future success through the creation of a dedicated Latino advisory council called the "Hispanic Inclusion Plan" ("HIP"); and
WHEREAS, The HIP will provide the necessary accountability tools to support the Chicago Latino community by doing the following: (1) an annual survey and reporting of business diversity, capacity building, and contractual opportunities provided to both the Mayor and the City Council; (2) development of partnerships and professional career efforts,' including strengthening the trade employment pipeline and/or trade contracts with the City; and (3) an
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Committee on Contracting Oversight & Equity
Chicago City Council October 14,2021
annual report of dollars spent with Latino run and serving non-governmental organizations that contract with the City; and
BE IT RESOLVED, That, we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled on this fourteenth day of October, 2021, do hereby call on the City to commit to the furtherance of economic opportunity and upward mobility this Hispanic Heritage Month for all Chicago Latinos through the creation of a dedicated Latino advisory council called the "Hispanic Inclusion Plan" ("HIP").