Budget director, supporters disagree over costs.
A new bill aims to help small, minority and women-owned businesses compete for state contracts—but there’s a disagreement over how much, if anything, that might cost.
HB 2450 calls for the creation of a Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Business Development Program inside the Department of Commerce. Among other things, it would set participation goals for those companies in government contracts, maintain a certification list and identify obstacles that hold these companies back.
The House Committee of Commerce and Economic Development will hold a hearing on HB 2450 at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Docking State Office Building, Room 785. Because of the legislature's schedule, this could be the bill's only opportunity to win committee approval this session, Rep. Annie Tietze said.
According to the state’s budget director, the commerce and transportation departments would need to hire seven new full-time employees to run the program. The estimated cost is $418,000 annually.
The bill’s supporters disagree and say the program shouldn’t require any new staffers and would have minimal budget impact. They point to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, which launched a similar program with no extra staffing and at little cost.
The budget director also warned that HB 2450 could lead to higher project costs for the state.
“The bill has the potential to increase the costs for goods and services purchased by state agencies, postsecondary educational institutions, and participating local governments if a bidder from a small, minority, and women-owned and controlled business were required to be selected over a lower cost bidder,” the budget director’s fiscal note reads.
“However, no precise fiscal effect can be estimated.”
Again, the bill’s supporters dispute that point. They say the bill is extremely flexible and has several “escape clauses.” It doesn’t force the state to accept a bid that is significantly over the project’s estimate, they say.
A Senate version of the bill, SB 268, hasn’t come up for a hearing yet.
