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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown
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Lowery Brown bill to help businesses owned by
minorities, women clears committee
HARRISBURG, June 29 – State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown's bill that would require any government body, school district or public entity that receives state money to start a minority-owned, women-owned and disadvantaged business diversity program was approved today by the House State Government Committee.
If no such program exists in the organization, H.B. 2146 would require the state's program under the Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities to be applied to any contract grant or project funded with state money.
"There are 2,300 minority- and women-owned businesses registered with the Department of State, and more than 200 of them are in Philadelphia," said Brown, D-Phila. "My bill would allow them to better compete for state contracts and grants and allow them to thrive. Hopefully, it also would lead to more minorities and women starting their own businesses."
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Minority and Business Opportunities, there were 445 minority-owned and 1,239 women-owned businesses in Pennsylvania in 2009. There were 203 businesses in Pennsylvania owned by minority women. Philadelphia has 75 minority-owned businesses, 81 women-owned businesses, and 51 minority women-owned businesses.
House Bill 2146 also would require all local governments, schools and other public entities to recognize the state Department of General Services' certification that a business is owned by a minority, women or disadvantaged person.
Lowery Brown said she's looking forward to having the full House of Representatives take up her bill.
The bill is part of a package of legislation introduced as the result of a report by the House Select Committee on Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Inclusion. That committee's recommendations included:
- Having all state agencies reserve 10 percent of their procurement and contracting dollars for small businesses with 250 or fewer employees, including but not limited to minority-owned, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises.
- Having state agencies, boards and commissions establish an overall target of 25 percent of procurement and construction dollars going to MWEs, WBEs and DBEs.
- Requiring that prime contractors doing business with the state pay subcontractors within five days.
- Creating greater uniformity and consistency in the state certification process for MWEs, WBEs and DBEs by having the state Department of General Services accept certification from the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program and having local governments and school districts accept those certifications as sufficient
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