Caltrans To Reinstate Race-Conscious Goals For Federally-Funded Projects

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently announced it would reinstate race-conscious goals for federally-funded transportation contracts in California.

The Coalition for Economic Equity (CEE) has been a moving force behind efforts to maintain race-conscious goals for all federal projects.  CEE aggressively pursued both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Caltrans to clear the bureaucratic red-tape that was blocking re-instatement of Caltrans' Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Goal and Methodology program.

CEE is an umbrella coalition of associations serving diverse
minority- and women-owned businesses that was first formed in 1982 in response to an almost total exclusion of MBEs and WBEs from San Francisco's public contracting system. In 1984, the Coalition succeeded in securing enactment of San Francisco's first contracting equity ordinance introduced by Supervisors Doris M. Ward and Willie B. Kennedy. Since that time, the Coalition has worked to strengthen and defend contracting equity programs throughout the Bay Area, as
well as at the state and federal levels.  The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a Dream Fund grantee, serves as legal counsel to CEE.

To read the official press release, click here.