(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that: (a) The state seeks recommendations from state procurement stakeholders, as convened pursuant to subsection (2) of this section for the implementation of remedial measures, including remedial measures using procurement equity tools, and quantification of the amount of additional funding and personnel required to both implement specific remedial measures and fully implement the program; and (b) To support the intent of the general assembly in enacting this part 11, the remediation of disparities in state procurement, through thoughtful, efficient, and effective implementation of the program that takes into account the professional expertise and lived experience of state procurement stakeholders as convened pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, it is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interest of the state to require the department to convene, contract with a facilitator to facilitate discussion among, engage in consultation with, and strongly consider the formal policy recommendations of a stakeholder group that may be comprised, to the extent practicable, of representatives of historically underutilized businesses and small businesses, governmental entities, federal and local organizations that provide procurement technical assistance or outreach to historically underutilized businesses and small businesses, and such other persons with relevant professional experience, including government procurement and government contracting experience as the department deems appropriate. (2) The department shall convene, contract with a facilitator to facilitate discussion among, and engage in consultation with a stakeholder group, which, to the extent practicable may consist of: (a) The following state government employees: (I) An employee of the department who has extensive experience and expertise in state procurement; (II) An employee of the office who has been involved in the office's administration of or is otherwise knowledgeable about the procurement technical assistance program, the small business COVID-19 grant program created in section 24-48.5-126, or the COVID-19 relief for disproportionately impacted businesses program created in section 24-48.5-127; (III) An employee of the minority business office; and (IV) An employee of the department of transportation who has significant experience and expertise regarding the department of transportation's civil rights programs that establish, administer, and enforce the department of transportation's diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements for engineers, contractors, consultants, local agencies, and transit providers; (b) An employee of the city and county of Denver's division of small business opportunity who has significant experience and expertise regarding the programs and operation of the division; (c) An employee of the procurement technical assistance center; (d) An owner or high-level employee of each of the following types of historically underutilized businesses: (I) A business owned by one or more women; (II) A business owned by one or more African American persons; (III) A business owned by one or more Asian American persons; (IV) A business owned by one or more Hispanic American persons; (V) A business owned by one or more Native American persons; and (VI) A business owned by one or more persons with disabilities; (e) To the extent practicable, an owner or high-level employee of each of the following types of businesses that are not historically underutilized businesses and that have competed for or been awarded state contracts: (I) A small business; (II) A business that is not a small business but that has fewer than five hundred employees and a demonstrable record of successful engagement and contracting with small businesses; (III) A business that has more than five hundred employees and a demonstrable record of successful engagement and contracting with small businesses; and (IV) With consideration for the volume of construction contracts awarded annually by the state, a representative of the associated general contractors; and (f) Any other individuals who have a demonstrable commitment to furthering equity in government procurement and substantial knowledge of procurement equity best practices who the department deems necessary or appropriate to include in the stakeholder group. (3) The stakeholder group convened as required by subsection (2) of this section shall: (a) Closely examine the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in the state disparity study report; (b) Using the information in the state disparity study report as a baseline for studying procurement equity programs in other states and at the federal and large local government level, identify best practices for successful procurement equity program implementation and administration; and (c) No later than November 1, 2023, present to the department a report of specific findings, remedial measures, and recommendations that includes, at a minimum: (I) Prioritization of the recommendations outlined in the state disparity study report. The prioritization may include written explanations of recommendations that specify whether recommendations in the report will be implemented and the remedial measures that will be taken to support program implementation in a manner that is sufficiently comprehensive to meet the state's goal of reducing disparities between the availability of historically underutilized businesses and their utilization in state procurement and increasing such utilization. (II) Confirmation or refutation of the disparity study report finding of no substantial disparity between available and utilized lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender businesses; (III) Confirmation or refutation of the disparity study report finding of no substantial disparity between availability and utilization of businesses owned by Asian American persons for construction, construction-related professional services, goods and other services contracts, brokerage, and investment; (IV) A preliminary estimate of the amount of initial and ongoing funding, personnel, information technology resources, and other resources needed to implement the policy recommendations and remedial measures in accordance with subsection (3)(b) of this section; (V) A step-by-step timeline for full implementation of the program; (VI) Suggested methodologies and metrics for monitoring and evaluating the success of the program and ensuring program accountability; and (VII) Identification of any public or private sources of funding or other resources that may be available to expedite the implementation or ongoing administration of the program and reduce costs to the state. (4) The department shall report on the progress and policy recommendations and any suggested remedial measures of the stakeholder group, the preliminary plans, recommendations, and remedial measures that the department has taken regarding the full implementation of the program, and any recommendations that the department has regarding the need for related legislation during its January 2025 annual presentation to legislative oversight committees required by section 2-7-203 (2)(a). In preparation for the presentation, the department shall give strong consideration to the policy recommendations report provided by the stakeholder group as required by subsection (3)(c) of this section.
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