BILL REQ. #:  S-4164.4 

Read first time 02/06/14.   Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

     AN ACT Relating to studying barriers to access; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   Every year the state of Washington issues contracts worth billions of dollars in contracting opportunities. Many of these are combined with federal dollars in order to leverage the total capacity of both entities. Many federal contracts have stipulations attached, that require goals and metrics to ensure fair participation with small, disadvantaged, minority, and women-owned businesses.
     In 2013, after responding to several complaints by a small contractor the federal highway administration found that the prime contractor on the Seattle viaduct project was violating the terms of contract with relation to small, women, and minority business participation. Further, the federal highway administration found that the prime contractor was purposely placing barriers to access for the smaller contractors. Further, studies have shown that such barriers in the past have had very detrimental effects for the communities represented by these businesses. From record high unemployment rates to increased negative social issues like high dropout rates and swelling prison populations, the social impact of these businesses' denials of jobs has been devastating on these communities.
     The legislature intends for a study to be completed to determine how best to address the various barriers that remain for women and minorities and how best to remedy these barriers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The Washington state institute for public policy shall study the impacts of Initiative Measure No. 200 (approved by the voters in 1998) on minorities in higher education and public contracting. For the purposes of this study, the term minority includes women. The factors to be considered include race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin.
     (2) The study shall review and analyze the enrollment data of minorities in four-year universities and community and technical colleges starting in 1993 and ending in 2013. For each year within the designated time period, the enrollment analysis shall include the number of minority students enrolled at the institution, new minority students who enrolled during that year, minority students who graduated during that year, and minority students who left the institution during that year prior to graduation.
     (3) The study shall also review and analyze public contracts awarded to minority and women-owned businesses between 1993 and 2013. The study shall focus on public works contracts and public contracts for goods and services. For each year within the designated time period, the public contracts analysis shall include the amount expended with certified minority and women-owned businesses compared to state overall expenditures by industry category. The analysis shall be disaggregated by ethnicity. The study shall also analyze Washington's practices of awarding contracts to minority and women-owned businesses compared to other states, assess best practices for public contracting, methods for improving public knowledge of opportunities to engage in increased contracting and procurement prospects, and assess agency purchasing.
     (4) The study shall analyze whether there are any links between the implementation of Initiative Measure No. 200 and the social impacts on minorities based on data between 1993 and 2013. For each year within the designated time period, the study shall analyze incarceration rates of minorities, school drop-out rates, unemployment rates, and the impact of contracts not being awarded to minority and women-owned businesses.
     (5) The Washington state institute for public policy must make determinations on the link between the implementation of Initiative Measure No. 200 and its impact on minorities in higher education and public contracting.
     (6) The Washington state institute for public policy shall submit its report on the study with recommendations to the legislature by January 1, 2015.