Over 15,000 Minority-Owned Businesses Lose HUB Certification Under Acting Texas Comptroller – AfroTech
Changes to a Texas-based program will impact thousands of minority-owned businesses.
Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock said the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program would be restructured. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the program was established to promote equal opportunities for small, minority-, and women-owned businesses. The program was signed into law in 1999 by George W. Bush, who was the Texas governor at the time, according to the Legal Defense Fund.
Now, the HUB program has been renamed and restructured as Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB), according to a press release. Certifications will be approved for service-disability veterans of 20% or more with documentation such as a DD-214 Military Discharge and Disability Rating Letter issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense, in addition to other required documents.
“Texans deserve a level playing field where government contracts are earned by performance and best value — nothing more, nothing less,” Hancock said in a separate press release. “Our office is committed to protecting taxpayer funds and ensuring that every Texas business has an equal opportunity to compete for government contracts. This action today reflects that commitment and reinforces Texas’ longstanding principles of fairness and accountability.”
The changes to the HUB program will impact more than 15,000 businesses, many of which are led by Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and women business owners, The Root reports. Among them is Ruben Mercado Jr., a Hispanic American contractor whose business stability is being challenged following the termination of his HUB certification. Cortena Williams, a Black woman who worked in the construction industry, said she now feels the opportunities she worked hard for have been taken from her.
Business owners, including Mercado, Williams, and a trade organization, are filing a lawsuit against the State of Texas called “The HUB Case,” notes The Root.
“In this country, the legislature passes the laws, not the comptroller, and Texas is no different,” Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement, according to the Texas Tribune. “The HUB case highlights a fundamental American principle — members of the executive branch cannot rewrite laws passed by the state legislature. They cannot deny citizens of their legal rights without a court order, legislative approval, or due process.”
“Acting Comptroller Hancock took a program created by statute and rewrote it without any legal authority. His actions are baseless and unlawful and must be reversed,” he continued.
