Massachusetts announces supplier diversity policy measures

MA News - Published Nov 23, 2020

The Office of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito has announced a new slate of policy measures intended to support equal opportunity and better access for diverse businesses in state contracting. A new bill that has been filed in the state legislature by the Baker-Polito Administration, "An Act to Elevate the Supplier Diversity Office to Ensure Equal Opportunity in State Contracting", is a key part of these measures.

The primary new policy is the establishment of the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) as a fully-fledged state agency under the authority of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, with the authority and funding to monitor and enforce compliance with diversity goals and with a Supplier Diversity Compliance Unit to review data as necessary. Additional measures include: raising the threshold for contracts that can be put into the Small Business Purchasing Program from $150,000 for the total value of the contract to $250,000; raising the percentage of bid evaluation scores that reflect supplier diversit measures from 10 percent to 25 percent for certain contracts; ensure that direct and indirect spending (through subcontractors) is tracked with granularity; and translating existing written materials relating to the supplier diversity program into new languages.

"Increasing economic development – for all businesses and communities – is a critical priority given the COVID-19 pandemic and its related impacts," said Lt. Governor Polito in a statement accompanying the release of the new policies.

Read the press release from the Baker-Polito Administration at https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-comprehensive-measures-to-further-promote-diversity-in. Read the bill at https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S2937.