Personal Net Worth DBE Disqualification of U.S. Department of Transportation

CONCURRED

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Transportation has a regulation that requires their minority vendors to reveal the personal net worth of its principals; and

WHEREAS, excluding the personal home of said minority vendor's principal and other limited potential exclusions, if the principal's personal net worth exceeds $750,000, said principal's company or firm shall be denied the DBE designation and, therefore, shall be denied participation in any of the U.S. Department of Transportation's MBE or DBE programs; and

WHEREAS, cities, countries, authorities, states, and other entities not required or requested to ask non‑minority vendors about their personal net worth regardless of how small or how large those non-minority vendors are; and

WHEREAS, the net worth of the vendor is not being reviewed, but the irrelevant personal net worth of the vendors' principal is mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation regulation despite the absence of any rational connection between the bad regulation and the qualification of the minority vendors as a disadvantaged business enterprise; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Transportation "personal net worth" regulation racially and economically discriminates against minority firms and companies and causes them serious, irreparable and unconstitutional harm.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP urges and demands that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation immediately suspend the subject regulation pending a complete review of said regulation in consultation with the NAACP, the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses and possibly other relevant groups; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NAACP demand that there be a determination by the U.S. Department of Justice of any other similar federal regulation that discriminates against minority Americans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, if litigation on this issue becomes necessary, the NAACP will become a party to it and support it; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP take any and all other corrective actions necessary to advance the cause of this Resolution.