Small businesses: contracting: outreach: underrepresented groups.

(1) The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act requires the Director of General Services and the heads of other state agencies that enter into contracts for the acquisition of goods, services, and information technology and for the construction of state facilities to establish goals for the participation of small businesses and microbusinesses in these contracts, to provide for a small business preference in the award of these contracts, to give special consideration and special assistance to small businesses, and, whenever possible, to make awards to small businesses, as specified. This bill, in order to facilitate the participation of small business, would require the director and the heads of other state agencies that enter such contracts, in addition to any other applicable requirement for public notice of contracts, to publish or otherwise make available information regarding public notice of contracts, as the awarding agency determines to be appropriate, in order to ensure all communities have access to the public notice. The bill would define "publish or otherwise make available" for this purpose. (2) Existing law creates the Department of Transportation within the Transportation Agency. Existing law requires the department to develop a detailed outreach plan intended to increase procurement opportunities for new and limited contracting small business enterprises, as defined, including, but not limited to, those owned by women, minority, disabled veterans, LGBT individuals, and other disadvantaged groups, in all the department's transportation programs, to undertake specified outreach activities required to be included in the plan, and to update that plan and submit it to specified entities. Existing law requires the department to achieve a minimum percentage of certified small business participation in state-funded contracts and procurements. Existing law requires the department to take all lawful and reasonable steps to raise to 100 the disparity indices for contracts awarded under the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program (DBEP) to foster equal opportunity for firms owned by disadvantaged individuals on certain contracts and procurements and to implement the recommendations from every disparity study undertaken by the department as part of DBEP, as specified. Existing law requires the department to give public notice of a project by publication, as specified, but allows the department to comply with this requirement by publishing the notice on its internet website. Existing law requires the department, if it publishes the notice on its internet website, to also publish information regarding notices listed on the department's internet website in trade papers, newspapers, or magazines, as appropriate, including those whose primary audience consists of underrepresented groups, including, but not limited to, women, minorities, LGBT individuals, and disabled veterans, as specified. This bill would clarify that the last requirement does not affect the department's authority to use existing resources for outreach efforts for events to promote small business enterprises, including, but not limited to, those owned by women, minorities, disabled veterans, LGBT individuals, and other disadvantaged groups, trainings to improve diversity, materials for matchmaking events, and resources for relationship development events to achieve the outreach and participation goals described above.