The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program encouraged contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses in the transportation sector, where these groups are vastly underrepresented.
The Trump administration wants to end a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) program that supports minority- and women-owned businesses, one of the nation’s oldest and largest affirmative action initiatives.
According to reporting by Julian Mark in The Washington Post, “In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Justice Department said that a Transportation Department program that has carved out an estimated $37 billion for minority- and women-owned businesses violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.”
If a judge agrees with the DOJ, it could spell the end of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program (DBE), which was created by Congress in 1983 and allocates at least 10 percent of transportation funds to contracts with women- or minority-owned businesses. “The settlement is still subject to challenge by a coalition of businesses that intervened in the case after President Donald Trump took office, arguing that the program is essential to removing entrenched barriers that minorities and women face in the $759 billion contracting sector.”
FULL STORY: Trump administration moves to upend $37B affirmative action program
Transportation Research Centers Lose Key Federal Funding
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USDOT Targets Transit, High-Speed Rail, Sustainable Transportation for Cuts
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Agreement Keeps NYC Congestion Pricing Alive Through Summer
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Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Bend, Deschutes County Move to Restrict Major Homeless Encampment
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High Housing Costs Driving Down Transit Ridership in LA
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Iowa Legalizes Accessory Dwelling Units
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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