Colorado § 24-103-1102 - Legislative declaration.

§ 24-103-1102. Legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:

(a) When it enacted Senate Bill 19-135 in 2019, it found, determined and declared, in section 24-103-1001, the importance of ensuring an equitable state procurement process;

(b) As required by Senate Bill 19-135, the department contracted with an entity independent of the department to conduct a state disparity study regarding the participation of historically underutilized businesses, which included a review of minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and businesses owned by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, in state contracts entered into by any department, agency, or institution of the executive branch of state government;

(c) The state disparity study examined whether a disparity exists between the percentage of state contract dollars going to historically underutilized businesses and the percentage that might be expected to go to those businesses based on the relative number of those businesses that are ready, willing, and able to perform different types, sizes, and locations of state contracts;

(d) The independent entity completed the required state disparity study and issued the "2020 state of Colorado disparity study final report" in November 2020, which found that:

(I) Minority-owned and women-owned businesses received about eight percent of state contract dollars, below the twenty-eight percent expected from the availability analysis;

(II) Utilization of firms owned by persons with disabilities was less than one percent of contract dollars, below the twelve percent expected from the availability analysis;

(III) A very small percentage of contract dollars went to businesses certified as being owned by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT-certified businesses), but because a very small number of businesses in the availability analysis were LGBT-certified businesses, that utilization is comparable to the availability benchmark for LGBT-certified businesses;

(IV) There was a substantial disparity between utilization and availability for firms owned by African American persons, Hispanic American persons, Native American persons, white women, and persons with disabilities for state construction, construction-related professional services, other professional services, goods and other services contracts;

(V) There was a substantial disparity for businesses owned by Asian American persons for other professional services contracts; and

(VI) For state brokerage and investment contracts, there were substantial disparities between utilization and availability of businesses owned by African American persons, Hispanic American persons, Native American persons, and white women;

(e) As detailed in the state disparity study report, the results of the study indicate that disparities between availability of historically underutilized businesses and utilization of such businesses exists in state contracting;

(f) Although the state is already endeavoring to help small businesses obtain state contracts, it is doing so with limited tools and resources;

(g) The disparities identified in the state disparity report are likely to persist unless further action is taken; and

(h) The state disparity study report recommended that the general assembly consider enacting legislation to authorize and fund a procurement equity program to address the specific disparities shown in the state disparity study report for historically underutilized businesses based on industry and business ownership.

Source: L. 2022: Entire part added, (SB 22-163), ch. 433, p. 3046, § 1, effective June 8.