The proposed bill establishes the Minority and Women-Owned Businesses State Contractor Remedies Act, which aims to improve the participation of minority and women-owned businesses in state contracting. It requires state agencies to develop annual plans to encourage these businesses to submit proposals and sets specific contract utilization goals based on findings from the New Jersey Disparity Study. The bill mandates that agencies make a good faith effort to meet these goals, with consequences for non-compliance, including the potential for remedial action plans overseen by the Chief Diversity Officer. Additionally, prime contractors are held accountable for meeting subcontractor goals, with the possibility of bid rejections for failure to comply.

Significant changes include the modification of the Set-Aside Act to focus solely on small businesses, increasing the set-aside goal from 15% to 25%, and establishing a new goal for state agencies to award at least 30% of contracts to socially and economically disadvantaged businesses. The bill removes specific references to "minority business" and "female business," consolidating the focus on small businesses, and repeals previous laws related to compliance calculations for minority and women-owned businesses. Oversight responsibilities are shifted to the Chief Diversity Officer and the Department of the Treasury, streamlining the implementation of equitable contracting practices.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 5:10-21.1, 52:32-17, 52:32-18, 52:32-19, 52:32-20, 52:32-21, 52:32-22, 52:32-23, 52:32-24, 52:32-25, 52:32-26, 52:32-27, 52:32-28, 52:32-30, 52:32-31.17