Report 2013-115 Recommendations

To ensure it has maximized the effectiveness of the DVBE incentive, Corrections should implement measures to help ensure that it applies the DVBE incentive to all applicable contracts and procurements and that these measures include documented policies and procedures and/or training to procurement staff on properly applying the DVBE incentive.

To ensure that the State enforces its contractual right to obtain a complete copy of its procurement data, General Services should take all necessary steps to ensure that it can extract a reliable copy of all of the State's procurement data from BidSync so that the data can be used and analyzed to the State's benefit. These steps should include testing that the data it obtains from BidSync is accurate and complete, and it should be completed before the end of the contract term with BidSync, in September 2014.

To help ensure that General Services does not incorrectly report businesses that are not certified DVBEs, it should verify, at least on a sample basis for high-value contracts, the certification status of the DVBE firms before submitting their DVBE activity reports to General Services.

To provide a more meaningful measure of how well disabled veteran-owned businesses benefit financially from the DVBE program, the Legislature should amend the DVBE reporting requirements in the Public Contract Code to require that all awarding departments take the following steps to report DVBE participation and ensure that data can be corroborated:

For DVBE firms that contract directly with the State (prime contractors), require awarding departments to report on an annual basis DVBE participation based on amounts they paid the DVBE firms.

For DVBE firms that work as a subcontractor (that do not directly contract with the awarding department), require the awarding departments to track and report on an annual basis DVBE participation based on amounts the subcontracting DVBE firms received, as certified by the subcontractors.

Require awarding departments to maintain accounting records and certifications from DVBE subcontractors, as applicable, that support the DVBE participation data reported.

If the Legislature chooses not to amend the DVBE reporting requirements in the Public Contracting Code—to require awarding departments to report DVBE participation annually based on amounts paid, not amounts awarded—the Legislature should amend the Public Contracting Code to do the following:

Require awarding departments to maintain detailed support for their DVBE activity and to establish review procedures to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the award amounts reported.

Include specific instructions to awarding departments on how they should report multiyear contracts, either at the time of award or by an equal distribution of the award over the life of the contract.

For the DVBE program to benefit a broad base of disabled veteran-owned businesses financially, the Legislature should enact legislation aimed at increasing the number of DVBEs that contract with the State, including increasing the amount of the DVBE incentive that awarding departments can apply when considering bids on state contracts. Such an incentive could include additional preference points to certain bids when the bidder is a DVBE firm that the department has not previously used, and when the DVBE firm is the prime contractor.

To ensure it has maximized the effectiveness of the DVBE incentive, Caltrans should implement measures to help ensure that it applies the DVBE incentive to all applicable contracts and procurements and that these measures include documented policies and procedures and/or training to procurement staff on properly applying the DVBE incentive.

To help ensure that Caltrans does not incorrectly report businesses that are not certified DVBEs, it should verify, at least on a sample basis for high-value contracts, the certification status of the DVBE firms before submitting their DVBE activity reports to General Services

To ensure CalVet is meeting its statutory obligations for the DVBE program, it should do the following:

Develop stronger measures to evaluate its outreach efforts, including formalizing a process for interpreting and evaluating its DVBE survey results and incorporating those results into its DVBE outreach plan.

Work more closely with awarding departments to help them meet the DVBE participation goals and promote DVBE contracting opportunities, including taking a more active role in leading DVBE advocate meetings and posting formal minutes from those meetings on its public Web site.