Greenlining Statement

The following letter dealing with supplier diversity was submitted by Jorge Corralejo to Sen. Ortiz as part of the Greenlining Institute's presentation for the committee hearing on the stem cell agency.

“As a board member of the Latin Business Association and of the Greenlining Institute, I wish to express my concerns regarding the $3 billion in contracts that the Stem Cell Research Institute is likely to grant to white institutions. I have personally been involved in negotiations with a wide range of regulatory bodies and private institutions, including all of the major banks, on supplier diversity issues and have advised the Insurance Commissioner on this matter as part of my duties on the Insurance Department COIN Board.
“Our organization has been active before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). As a result of actions by various minority organizations, AT&T awarded 17% of its contracts to minorities, SBC awarded 23% of its contracts to minorities, Edison awarded 16% and Verizon awarded 15%. In large measure, this is due to the CPUC having set 15% minority contract goals at our request.
“We are concerned that no such goals exist for stem cell research. We are also well aware of the University of California’s embarrassing record of failing to enroll, hire or do business with minority communities. Unfortunately, UC does not, as a deliberate policy in order to prevent criticism of its white-only policies, gather records generally relating to race and ethnicity of its almost $5 billion a year in contracts. However, according to recent data provided to the Greenlining Institute from the office of the General Counsel for the Regents of the U.C., data is available for U.C. Davis. It shows that just 5% of contracts were awarded to minority-owned businesses for the last year reported 2003.
“We urge you to take the following action:
“Request that the Oversight Committee set goals of fifteen to twenty-five percent of contracts for small, minority-owned businesses, including professional services, and that the Committee provide an annual report broken down by race and ethnicity on achievements.
“No contracts of $1 million or more be awarded unless the business or institution, including universities, has a supplier diversity program and discloses its results by race and ethnicity.
“Require the University of California, prior to its submitting any bids for any contracts or services, to submit detailed information by race and ethnicity of all of its contracts, much as the CPUC requires of the utilities.
“Californians, including an overwhelming number of Latinos and other minorities, voted in favor of Prop 71. We also deserve a fair share of all contracts.
“Please be assured that if you have other hearings on this matter, I will be pleased to attend and would be pleased to work with the stem cell research Oversight Committee in achieving equal opportunity for all businesses.”