§ 2–214.01. Establishment of the Minority and Women-Owned Business Assessment Program.

(a) There is established the Minority and Women-Owned Business Assessment Program (“Program”) within the Department of Small and Local Business Development (“Department”). The Program shall:

(1) Analyze the current state of businesses owned or controlled by minorities or women qualifying as Certified Business Enterprises (“CBE”) as that term is defined in subchapter IX-A of this chapter [§ 2-218.01 et seq.], including counting the number of businesses that have applied for CBE certification and the number that have been certified as CBEs since the inception of the CBE program;

(2) Record and track the number of businesses owned or controlled by minorities or women that have been awarded government contracts under the procurement process utilized by the District;

(3) Assess the findings and investigate and recommend ways to encourage businesses owned or controlled by minorities or women to compete in the procurement process utilized by the District; and

(4) Ensure all District agencies with procurement authority, including independent agencies, are trained to evaluate, collect, and accurately track spending data as well as demographic data such as race and gender, upon request of District contract and procurement awardees, to better assess the District utilization of equity impact enterprises, minority-owned prime contractors and subcontractors, and women-owned prime contractors and subcontractors.

(b) The Department shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations of the Program to the Chairman of the Council committee with oversight of the Department of Small and Local Business Development ("Committee"). The report shall be submitted to the Committee no later than March 1 of each year and shall include specific steps for implementing the recommendations.

(b-1)(1) In Fiscal Year 2021, the Mayor shall contract with a person or entity to conduct a District-based study ("disparity study") to:

(A) Evaluate if there is a specific evidentiary foundation of discrimination against minority and women-owned businesses;

(B) Assess if there are disparities between the availability and utilization of minority and women-owned prime contractors and subcontractors and, if there are, describe and analyze the most-relevant causal factors; and

(C) Determine if there are statistically significant disparities in the utilization of minority and women-owned businesses by prime contractors on government-assisted projects awarded pursuant to § 2-218.46.

(1A) All agencies with procurement authority, including independent agencies, shall coordinate with the Executive Office of the Mayor to provide timely and accurate information to assist with the completion of the disparity study.

(2) The finalized disparity study shall be submitted to the Committee within 450 days after October 30, 2020.

(c) For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “minority” shall include Asian, Pacific Islander, African American or Black, Native American or Native Hawaiian, and Hispanic or Latino.