Business Week
By JUDY LIN
SACRAMENTO
The Associated Press April 3, 2009, 7:26PM ET
The state Department of Transportation has created a plan to boost hiring of minority firms for work on road projects, a development that affirmative action opponents said might violate California law.
The Federal Highway Administration this week formally approved the department's minority business contracting plan. It seeks to award more transportation contracts to firms owned by blacks, Asians, Native Americans and women as part of an ongoing effort to increase diversity.
Opponents of affirmative action have warned the department that proceeding with the minority contracting goals potentially violates the provisions of Proposition 209, California's 12-year-old ban on considering race in student admissions and public hiring.
Ward Connerly, who led support for Proposition 209, said he thinks the department's approach is wrong and could expose the state to a lawsuit. Connerly, who is black, is an anti-affirmative action advocate who has pushed for laws in a number of states to ban preferential treatment based on race, gender or ethnicity.
"This seems to be an end-run around Prop. 209 and what we believe to be a violation of the federal Constitution that demands everybody be treated equally," said Sharon Browne, an attorney with the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation who defends Proposition 209.
Full Story: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D97B9M680.htm
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