In January, Senate Bill 35 was signed by Gov. John Carney into law. The law establishes a pilot program under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) that mandates community workforce agreements, or CWAs, on state-funded construction projects.
The program targets six projects: Hodgson Vo-Tech High School, DNREC Lab, Hospital for the Chronically Ill, OMB Food Building, and two DelDOT projects which have not been identified yet. All four OMB projects contain community workforce agreements, while only one project, Hodgson, included a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirement, and both DelDOT projects will contain CWAs and DBE requirements.
A major challenge with this law is that community workforce agreements limit Black- and minority-owned contractors’ ability to participate and compete for state-funded construction projects. All projects should be inclusive of DBE requirements, not just select projects. A unified approach —one that incorporates all enterprises, DBE and otherwise — ensures that a level playing field exists for all Delaware businesses and their employees.
The bill passed the Senate by a party line vote. It was debated for several hours in the House the evening before the General Assembly adjourned for break. House Republicans offered several amendments, which the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce (DEBCC) supported, such as placing DBE requirements on all projects, removing the community...
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