The NAACP Memphis Branch is opposing a bill that would outlaw minority contracting programs in state and local governments, school boards, public universities and similar government organizations statewide.
Opponents of the bill gathered at the Memphis NAACP office for a news conference Friday.
“So we’re in a position now where Black-owned and women-owned businesses are still fighting to get their fair share of the pie, and they weren’t getting it, even with the laws in place,” said Van Turner, president of the Memphis branch of the NAACP and a Shelby County Commissioner.
“And now when you get rid of the law, you really are taking us back three decades.”
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, chairs the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators.
He pointed toward a study from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations that concluded Black businesses had received only about 3.3% of state procurement contract money in 2016-2020.
That’s actually an increase from the percentage a few years earlier: In 2003-2007, for instance, it was only 0.4%.
Parkinson said that in a majority-Black city like Memphis, Black people are paying taxes but not winning many government contracts. “That means that those taxpayers are not getting a fair shot at being able receive some of the tax dollars in some of these contracts.”
He also argued that minority contracting programs help improve business owners’ lives for generations and bring a broader benefit to society.
“Because these Black businesses will hire the people that other businesses will not hire,” he said. For instance, a Black business might hire someone with a felony conviction, he said, giving the person a chance to avoid returning to criminal activity.
“If someone has a decent quality of life, they’re not gonna be kicking your back door in.”
Both the House and Senate versions of the bill are scheduled for committee hearings on Tuesday, according to online records.
One of the primary sponsors of the bill is State Sen. Mike Bell, a Republican representing a mostly rural area in East Tennessee. Bell’s office did not immediately return a phone call Friday afternoon.
Recent years have seen many examples of conflicts between Memphis, a Democratic, majority Black city, and the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee legislature, which represents mostly rural, mostly white communities.
With Democrats outvoted, Parkinson said opponents hope to gather support for their position from major business groups.
Shelby County conflict illustrates fight over minority contracting programs
The situation reflects also years of conflict in Memphis and nationwide over the practice of requiring a certain percentage of government contracts to go toward businesses owned by members of minority groups.
The 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in City of Richmond v J.A. Croson Co. held that the constitution did not allow a city to require general contractors to subcontract a certain percentage of the work to minority-owned business.
Several subsequent court cases led to the practice of disparity studies: consultants study differences in which groups were winning government contracts. Depending on the results of the disparity study, a city’s minority business program might pass legal muster.
The Memphis area has seen several fights over disparity studies and minority contracting programs.
To name one example, in 2020, the Shelby County government voted to pay $332,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a group of contractors who had alleged the county’s minority business program discriminated against white-owned businesses. The settlement also forced changes to the way the county awards contracts. The county dropped its minority- and woman-owned business program, replacing it with a similar program that didn’t focus on race and gender.
But the minority- and woman-owned business program is likely to come back in the future, after a new disparity study is completed that looks at who receives government contracts today.
The study was originally slated for completion in 2021. However, the timeframe was extended and the study is still ongoing.
Text of the proposed bill says discrimination or preferential treatment is not allowed
The core language of the proposed bill is as follows:
“The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, an individual or group based on the individual’s or group’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of any aspect of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”
The language of the bill clarifies that this bill would apply not only to the Tennessee government, but to political subdivisions such as cities and counties as well as to public higher education, public school systems, charter schools, as well as any other organization that derives its authority from the state of Tennessee.
FULL BILL: Click to read the full text of the bill.
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The Senate bill is SB 2440. The House version is HB 2569.
Reporter Katherine Burgess contributed to this article.
Investigative reporter Daniel Connolly welcomes tips and comments from the public. Reach him at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.
