                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED; PARTICIPATION OF SMALL, WOMEN-OWNED, MINORITY-OWNED,
MILITARY FAMILY-OWNED, AND SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESSES AND
EMPLOYMENT SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS (§ 2.2-4310)

A. In the solicitation or awarding of contracts, no public body shall
discriminate against a bidder or offeror because of race, religion, color, sex,
sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, status as
a service disabled veteran, status as a military family, or any other basis
prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment. Whenever
solicitations are made, each public body shall include businesses selected from
a list made available by the Department of Small Business and Supplier
Diversity, which list shall include all companies and organizations certified by
the Department.

B. All public bodies shall establish programs consistent with this chapter to
facilitate the participation of small businesses, businesses owned by women,
minorities, and service disabled veterans, military family-owned businesses, and
employment services organizations in procurement transactions. The programs
established shall be in writing and shall comply with the provisions of any
enhancement or remedial measures authorized by the Governor pursuant to
subsection C or, where applicable, by the chief executive of a local governing
body pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-965.1, and shall include specific plans to achieve
any goals established therein. State agencies shall submit annual progress
reports on (i) small, women-owned, and minority-owned business procurement; (ii)
service disabled veteran-owned business procurement; (iii) military family-owned
business procurement; and (iv) employment services organization procurement to
the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity in a form specified by
the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity. All state agencies
shall cooperate with the Department of Small Business and Supplier
Diversity&#8217;s annual review of their programs pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-1605
and shall update such programs to incorporate any feedback and suggestions for
improvement. Contracts and subcontracts awarded to employment services
organizations and service disabled veteran-owned or military family-owned
businesses shall be credited toward the small business, women-owned business,
and minority-owned business contracting and subcontracting goals of state
agencies and contractors. The Department of Small Business and Supplier
Diversity shall make information on service disabled veteran-owned or military
family-owned procurement available to the Department of Veterans Services upon
request.

C. Whenever there exists (i) a rational basis for small business or employment
services organization enhancement or (ii) a persuasive analysis that documents a
statistically significant disparity between the availability and utilization of
women-owned and minority-owned businesses, the Governor is authorized and
encouraged to require state agencies to implement appropriate enhancement or
remedial measures consistent with prevailing law. Any enhancement or remedial
measure authorized by the Governor pursuant to this subsection for state public
bodies may allow for small businesses certified by the Department of Small
Business and Supplier Diversity or a subcategory of small businesses established
as a part of the enhancement program to have a price preference over
noncertified businesses competing for the same contract award on designated
procurements, provided that the bid of the certified small business or the
business in such subcategory of small businesses established as a part of an
enhancement program does not exceed the low bid by more than five percent.

D. In awarding a contract for services to a small, women-owned, or
minority-owned business that is certified in accordance with &#xA7; 2.2-1606, or
to a business identified by a public body as a service disabled veteran-owned or
military family-owned business where the award is being made pursuant to an
enhancement or remedial program as provided in subsection C, the public body
shall include in every such contract of more than $10,000 the following:
			&#8220;If the contractor intends to subcontract work as part of its
performance under this contract, the contractor shall include in the proposal a
plan to subcontract to small, women-owned, minority-owned, and service disabled
veteran-owned and military family-owned businesses.&#8221;

E. In the solicitation or awarding of contracts, no state agency, department, or
institution shall discriminate against a bidder or offeror because the bidder or
offeror employs ex-offenders unless the state agency, department, or institution
has made a written determination that employing ex-offenders on the specific
contract is not in its best interest.

F. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Employment services organization&#8221; means an organization that
provides community-based employment services to individuals with disabilities
that is an approved Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
(CARF) accredited vendor of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative
Services.
			&#8220;Military family&#8221; means (i) a member of the uniformed forces, as
defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(5), of the United States or a reserve component
thereof named under 10 U.S.C. § 10101, (ii) a veteran as defined in 38 U.S.C.
§ 101(2), or (iii) a dependent as defined in 50 U.S.C. § 3911(4) except that
the support provided by the service member to the individual shall have been
provided 180 days immediately preceding an alleged action that if proven true
would constitute unlawful discrimination under this section instead of 180 days
immediately preceding an application for relief under 50 U.S.C. Chapter 50.
			&#8220;Military family-owned business&#8221; means a business that is at
least 51 percent owned by one or more persons within the definition of
&#8220;military family&#8221; or, in the case of a corporation, partnership, or
limited liability company or other entity, in which at least 51 percent of the
equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability
company or other entity is owned by one or more individuals who are persons
within the definition of &#8220;military family&#8221; and both the management
and daily business operations are controlled by one or more individuals who are
persons within the definition of &#8220;military family&#8221;.
			&#8220;Minority individual&#8221; means an individual who is a citizen of the
United States or a legal resident alien and who satisfies one or more of the
following definitions:

   1. &#8220;African American&#8221; means a person having origins in any of the
   original peoples of Africa and who is regarded as such by the community of
   which this person claims to be a part.

   2. &#8220;Asian American&#8221; means a person having origins in any of the
   original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or
   the Pacific Islands, including but not limited to Japan, China, Vietnam,
   Samoa, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Northern Mariana Islands, the Philippines, a
   U.S. territory of the Pacific, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka and
   who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a
   part.

   3. &#8220;Hispanic American&#8221; means a person having origins in any of the
   Spanish-speaking peoples of Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean
   Islands or other Spanish or Portuguese cultures and who is regarded as such by
   the community of which this person claims to be a part.

   4. &#8220;Native American&#8221; means a person having origins in any of the
   original peoples of North America and who is regarded as such by the community
   of which this person claims to be a part or who is recognized by a tribal
   organization.
   				&#8220;Minority-owned business&#8221; means a business that is at least 51
   percent owned by one or more minority individuals who are U.S. citizens or
   legal resident aliens, or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or
   limited liability company or other entity, at least 51 percent of the equity
   ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability
   company or other entity is owned by one or more minority individuals who are
   U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, and both the management and daily
   business operations are controlled by one or more minority individuals, or any
   historically black college or university as defined in &#xA7; 2.2-1604,
   regardless of the percentage ownership by minority individuals or, in the case
   of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity,
   the equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited
   liability company or other entity.
   				&#8220;Service disabled veteran&#8221; means a veteran who (i) served on
   active duty in the United States military ground, naval, or air service, (ii)
   was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable, and (iii)
   has a service-connected disability rating fixed by the United States
   Department of Veterans Affairs.
   				&#8220;Service disabled veteran business&#8221; means a business that is
   at least 51 percent owned by one or more service disabled veterans or, in the
   case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other
   entity, at least 51 percent of the equity ownership interest in the
   corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity is
   owned by one or more individuals who are service disabled veterans and both
   the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more
   individuals who are service disabled veterans.
   				&#8220;Small business&#8221; means a business, independently owned and
   controlled by one or more individuals, or in the case of a cooperative
   association organized pursuant to Chapter 3 (&#xA7; 13.1-301 et seq.) of Title
   13.1 as a nonstock corporation, controlled by one or more members, who are
   U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, and together with affiliates, has 250
   or fewer employees, or annual gross receipts of $10 million or less averaged
   over the previous three years. One or more of the individual owners or members
   shall control both the management and daily business operations of the small
   business.
   				&#8220;State agency&#8221; means any authority, board, department,
   instrumentality, institution, agency, or other unit of state government.
   &#8220;State agency&#8221; shall not include any county, city, or town.
   				&#8220;Women-owned business&#8221; means a business that is at least 51
   percent owned by one or more women who are U.S. citizens or legal resident
   aliens, or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability
   company or other entity, at least 51 percent of the equity ownership interest
   is owned by one or more women who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens,
   and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or
   more women.

HISTORY: 1982, c. 647, §§ 11-44, 11-48; 1984, c. 279; 2000, c. 628; 2001, c.
844; 2003, c. 226; 2004, cc. 865, 891; 2006, cc. 831, 921; 2007, c. 787; 2008,
cc. 521, 767; 2009, c. 869; 2013, c. 482; 2015, cc. 733, 765, 775; 2016, c. 525;
2017, cc. 397, 407, 578; 2018, c. 540; 2020, c. 1137; 2022, cc. 150, 301; 2025,
c. 422.