In its comments, AGC highlighted support for key changes to the program, including reasonable alignment with the Federal Small Business Act, an increase of the Personal Net Worth cap, and a streamlining of the interstate certification process.

You may recall, AGC previously reported that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a proposed rulemaking on the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. This week, AGC finalized comments on the proposed rulemaking that were submitted to U.S. DOT.

AGC highlighted support for some key changes to the program that include:

• Growing DBE capacity by reasonably aligning the DBE program with the federal Small Business Act but caution against any changes that would shrink the number of DBEs in the program;
• Increasing the Personal Net Worth cap and the exclusion of retirement assets from that calculation; and
• Streamlining the Interstate Certification Process to ease the burdensome process a DBE faces trying to get certified in another state.

On the other hand, AGC cautioned the Department on proposed changes to DBE suppliers, ownership and control requirements, and the decertification process. Thank you to all the companies and chapter staff that assisted AGC of America with developing these comments. If you are a DBE contractor or have experience working with DBEs and would like to weigh in on these issues going forward, please let us know. As always, we will keep you updated as this proposed rulemaking progresses.

For more information, contact Alex Etchen at [email protected].