In a new Washington Times article on Maryland’s minority-contracting program, UMBC political science and public policy professor George La Noue argues that definitional and structural program flaws translate to too few businesses “graduating” from the program (i.e., losing eligibility through successful growth to a certain size).
La Noue argues that the definition of what qualifies a business as “disadvantaged” for program eligibility is too broad. He suggests, “To argue that someone is economically disadvantaged who has that kind of money is a very tortured definition of that concept; it would mean that 95 percent of all Americans are disadvantaged. The economic definition of net worth is way too high and there are also a number of ways to get around it,” such as keeping liquidity in the business or a spouse’s account.
Update: La Noue commented in a second Washington Times article on June 6th that explored the Department of Transportation’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise, Maryland’s certification agency for Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs. La Noue suggested that the office’s enforcement/regulatory responsibilities conflict with its mission to promote and expand the programs.
Tags: CAHSS, PoliticalScience, PublicPolicy
