| Chapter 170 |
| 2025 -- S 0311 Enacted 06/24/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE |
Introduced By: Senators Vargas, Britto, Acosta, Appollonio, Dimitri, Mack, Thompson, Gu, and Ujifusa |
| Date Introduced: February 13, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 37-14.1-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-14.1 entitled "Minority |
| Business Enterprise" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 37-14.1-6. Minority business enterprise participation. |
| (a) Minority business enterprises shall be included in all procurements and construction |
| projects under this chapter and shall be awarded a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the dollar |
| value of the entire procurement or project. Of that fifteen percent (15%), minority business |
| enterprises owned and controlled by a minority owner, as defined in § 37-14.1-3, shall be awarded |
| a minimum of seven and one-half percent (7.5%), and minority business enterprises owned and |
| controlled by a woman shall be awarded a minimum of seven and one-half percent (7.5%). |
| Annually, by October 1, the department of administration shall submit a report to the general |
| assembly on the status of achieving the aforementioned participation requirements in the most |
| recent fiscal year. The director of the department of administration is further authorized to establish |
| by rules and regulation the certification process and formulas for giving minority business |
| enterprises a preference in contract and subcontract awards. |
| (b) Any minority business enterprise currently certified by the U.S. Small Business |
| Administration as an 8(a) firm governed by 13 C.F.R. part 124 shall be deemed to be certified by |
| the department of administration as a minority business enterprise and shall only be required to |
| submit evidence of federal certification of good standing. |
| (c) The provisions of this chapter shall not be waived, including, but not limited to, during |
| a declared state of emergency. |
| (d) The state of Rhode Island will arrange for a disparity study to evaluate the need for the |
| development of programs to enhance the participation in state contracts of business enterprises |
| owned by women and minorities, to be repeated every five (5) years, beginning in fiscal year 2025. |
| (e)(1) The department of administration shall provide a list of certified minority- and |
| women-owned business enterprises to each prospective contractor and no waiver for this chapter |
| shall be granted until after each prospective contractor receives assistance from the department of |
| administration with compliance of this chapter. |
| (2) Upon issuance of a waiver of compliance, the department of administration shall make |
| publicly available records of all waivers of compliance. Such records shall include: |
| (3i) Information identifying the contract, including the value of the contract; |
| (4ii) Information identifying the contracting agency; |
| (5iii) The name of the contractor receiving the waiver; |
| (6iv) The date of the waiver; and |
| (7v) The specific contract provisions to which the waiver applies. |
| (f) Each contracting agency that substantially fails to make a good faith effort to achieve |
| the maximum feasible participation of minority- and women-owned business enterprises in such |
| agency’s contracting shall be required to submit to the director of the department of administration |
| a remedial action plan to remedy such failure. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC000549 |
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