Baltimore City Council introduces MWBE reforms

MD News - Published Apr 28, 2021

Baltimore City Council is considering a package of three bills that have been introduced with the goal of fostering inclusion of minority- and woman-owned businesses in City procurement. The bills follow a recent audit of the Minority and Women's Business Opportunity Office (MWBOO) which found holes in MWBOO's tracking and enforcement.

The bills, which in aggregate are being referred to as the Baltimore Business Inclusion and Empowerment Legislative Package, would institute a number of reforms. Council Bill 21-0068 which allow for permitting the City Purchasing Agent to either waive certain irregularities (those having to do with "a matter of form and not of substance") in bids, or to give the contract in question an opportunity to "cure" the bid of such irregularities. Bidders would also be allowed to follow certain procedures for curing the bid if they notice the error first.

Council Bill 21-0069 is an act relating to "Transparency in Procurement", and would set certain reporting requirements on contractors working on projects worth over $100,000, including requirements to disclose capacity, prior experience in working with the city, and workforce demographic data. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Finance to make an annual report summarizing data received under the reporting requirements.

Council Bill 21-0070 concerns "Required Market Research", and requires City agencies to conduct and present market research into availability before waiving requirements related to MWBE contract goals. Further procedures for presenting findings to the MWBOO, and for the MWBOO to receive permission from the Board of Estimates, are also laid out.

The three bills follow an audit finding that in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, MWBOO was unable to calculate participation targets or track compliance, and that consequently no reliable or verifiable MWBE participation data was available for that period

Read the three bills at:
- https://baltimore.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4918065&GUID=1F131174-7272-4EEC-A14E-E6EFB4F134BA&Options=ID|Text|&Search=
- https://baltimore.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4918066&GUID=818A23E3-6DD9-4B63-9C5E-7EAEE930E3FF&Options=ID|Text|&Search=
- https://baltimore.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4918067&GUID=47B62B54-6587-47D4-8AF6-3467779DB09F&Options=ID|Text|&Search=.