# Plain Language Summary: Expanding Opportunities for Diverse Entrepreneurs Act

This bill requires transportation agencies and companies that receive federal transportation funding to do a better job of tracking and promoting opportunities for minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses. Specifically, it targets organizations that get money from the Department of Transportation for highways, transit systems, and airports. These organizations must now assign someone to actively work on expanding knowledge about available contracts and support services for small businesses owned by people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes organizing training workshops, networking events, business development courses, and marketing efforts to help these entrepreneurs understand how to compete for federal transportation contracts.

The bill also creates a new reporting requirement. Organizations receiving federal transportation funds must collect detailed information about their outreach efforts and submit reports to Congress. Additionally, the Department of Transportation itself must publish annual reports showing exactly how much federal money went to minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses, broken down by state and demographic categories like race and gender. This data will be publicly available on the Department's website in an easy-to-search format so anyone can see how well the program is working.

The practical effect is increased transparency and accountability. Small business owners from disadvantaged backgrounds will have better access to information about federal transportation contracts, and the public will be able to see whether these programs are actually helping diverse entrepreneurs get a fair share of federal transportation spending. For larger transportation projects and agencies, this means dedicating more resources to outreach and documentation, but the goal is to level the playing field for businesses that have historically faced barriers to competing for government contracts.

Expanding Opportunities for Diverse Entrepreneurs Act

Castro, Joaquin

Expanding Opportunities for Diverse Entrepreneurs Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program and recipients of assistance from the program to analyze and report on the program. The DBE program seeks to offer small disadvantaged businesses (i.e., certified as owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals) a fair opportunity to compete for federally funded transportation contracts. The bill requires <ul> <li>the DBE liaison officers to track and provide an analysis of all efforts to expand knowledge of services and opportunities available (e.g., minimum outreach, training, and online development support) to non-certified and certified DBEs to increase an enterprise's ability to compete for, and perform on, federally funded transportation contracts;</li> <li>DOT to publicly post online a searchable and exportable version of the Uniform Report of DBE Awards/ Commitments and Payments for each state; and</li> <li>DOT to submit an annual report to Congress on the DBE program.</li> </ul>