Committee advances HB128 to streamline state certification for minority-, women- and veteran‑owned businesses

Representative Hong presented House Bill 128 (LC365387‑e‑c) on behalf of the governor, saying the measure would streamline state contract certification by allowing businesses to apply directly to the Department of Administrative Services instead of first obtaining federal/DOT certification. "We're allowing these minority‑owned businesses and now women owned and veteran‑owned businesses to go ahead and take out the federal certification but go straight into the state certification process," she said.

Autumn Cole, general counsel for DOAS, told the committee the department plans to accept certifications from other established national certifiers so small businesses would not face duplicative vetting. The bill also extends an existing tax‑deduction incentive (a 10% deduction of qualified payments, up to $100,000) to subcontracting with women‑owned and veteran‑owned firms. Committee members asked about implementation details and safeguards; DOAS described a policy process to determine which external certifiers it will accept.

Representative Reese formally moved the committee recommendation of "do pass"; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee advanced HB128 to the next stage with bipartisan support and directed DOAS and bill sponsors to provide implementation details and policy guidance as the bill moves forward.