Minorities' Share of Florida Business Said Growing
Tuesday September 4 7:18 PM ET
By Michael Peltier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Two years after abolishing affirmative action programs for minority-owned companies, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said on Tuesday they are now getting an unprecedented share of state spending. Flanked by charts and minority business owners, Bush said data from his budget office showed that jettisoning set aside programs and quotas have not, as critics had predicted, undermined minority business competing for the nearly $15 billion in goods and services purchased every year by the state.
For the fiscal year ending June 30, Bush reported that state agencies spent $549 million with minority-owned firms. That represents a 43 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and more than double the $263 million purchased from minority firms two years ago. ``I've always known that there were businesses out there that wanted to sell quality services to state government,'' Bush told reporters.
``It required a new way of thinking on the part of people that needed those goods and services.'' The figures indicated gains across the board for businesses run by women and racial minorities. During the past fiscal year, Black-run businesses increased their contracts by 40 percent to $107 million from the previous year. With $148 million in sales, Hispanic businesses doubled their government business.
Women, who represent the largest contingent of minority contractors, saw their sales rise 23 percent to $269 million. ``These are significant numbers,'' Bush said. ``While the critics say that perhaps there would be drops, we have more than doubled the procurement of services by minority owned businesses in this state.'' In addition to the figures for certified minority businesses, Bush's office released figures they say include noncertified minority firms, and nonprofit corporations and service agencies. Combined, Bush said, the amount of state business tops $2 billion.
The announcement came nearly two years after Bush signed an executive order abolishing set aside programs and quotas for the 15 agencies that report directly to him. Issued in November 1999, the order was part of a two-prong program that also abolished race as a consideration for college admission.
At the time, more than 10,000 black leaders, union representatives and supporters marched on the state capital in protest, arguing that statutory protections were needed to ensure guaranteed equal access. On Tuesday, a leading black lawmaker reiterated that concern. ``I would ask Floridians to look at the fine print and look at the longevity,'' said Miami Democrat Kendrick Meek. ``We're looking for the long-term protection of equal opportunity in the state.
That doesn't mean you pull thesecurity blanket off a group of people who have been discriminated against in the past.''
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