Certified Business Enterprise Program Protection Amendment Act of 2025

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__________________________ 1
Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie 2
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A BILL 5
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 9
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To amend the Small and Certified Business Enterprise Development and Assistance Act of 2005 14
to require a business applying for certification as a local business enterprise to be inde-15
pendently owned and operated, to amend minimum certified business enterprise perfor-16
mance requirements in a certified joint venture, to amend the requirements for a benefi-17
ciary submitting a quarterly subcontracting report, to require a certified business enterprise 18
to report a material change to the Department of Small and Local Business Development, and 19
to establish uniform hearing procedures for enforcement actions. 20
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 22
act may be cited as “Certified Business Enterprise Program Protection Amendment Act of 2025”. 23
Sec. 2. Small and Certified Business Enterprise Development and Assistance Act of 24
2005, effective October 20, 2005 (D.C. Law 16-33; D.C. Official Code § 2-218.01 et seq.), is 25
amended as follows: 26
(a) Sec. 2302 (D.C. Official Code § 2-218.02) is amended as follows: 27
(1) Paragraph (7) is amended to read as follows: 28
“(7) “Economically disadvantaged individual” means an individual who 29
owns at least a 51% interest in a business enterprise and whose personal net worth does not ex-30
ceed the limits set by the federal Department of Transportation, pursuant to 49 CFR § 26.68.”. 31
(2) Paragraph (8A) is amended to read as follows: 32
“(8A) Equity impact enterprise” means a business enterprise that is a resi-33
dent-owned business, small business enterprise, and disadvantaged business enterprise.”. 34

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(3) Paragraph (9) is redesignated as paragraph (8B). 35
(4) A new paragraph (9) is added to read as follows: 36
“(9) “Formal complaint” means a complaint that is submitted to the De-37
partment in writing, sworn to by the complainant, and notarized.”. 38
(5) A new paragraph (10A) is added to read as follows: 39
“(10A) “Independently owned and operated” means that the business en-40
terprise manages and controls its day-to-day operations without being subject to control, re-41
striction, modification, or limitation by another business enterprise or not-for-profit business that 42
has an ownership or other financial interest in the business enterprise.” 43
(6) A new paragraph (10B) is added to read as follows: 44
“(10B) “Informal complaint” means a complaint other than a formal com-45
plaint and includes complaints submitted in person, by email, by telephone, or through 46
the Department’s complaint hotline.”. 47
(7) Paragraph (13) is redesignated as paragraph (12B). 48
(8) A new paragraph (13) is added to read as follows: 49
“(13) “Managerial Functions” means the staffing, planning, organizing, 50
directing, coordinating, and overall controlling of the business’s activities.”. 51
(9) Paragraph (13A) is amended to read as follows: 52
“(13A) “Material change” means a change in: 53
“(A) The business enterprise’s ownership; 54
“(B) The address of the business enterprise’s principal office; 55
“(C) The business enterprise’s size, if the business is certified as a 56
small enterprise; or 57
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“(D) Any other characteristic of the business that affects whether 58
the business continues to qualify for certification under a CBE category under which the business 59
enterprise is certified.”. 60
(10) Paragraph (13B) is redesignated as paragraph (13C). 61
(11) A new paragraph (13B) is added to read as follows: 62
“(13B) “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, 63
general partner of a partnership, limited liability company, registered limited liability partnership, 64
foreign limited liability partnership, association, corporation, unincorporated business, company, 65
syndicate, estate, trust, business trust, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, executor, adminis-66
trator, assignee, fiduciary, or entity of any kind.”. 67
(b) Section 2331 (D.C. Official Code § 2-218.31) is amended by adding a new 68
paragraph (1A) to read as follows: 69
"(1A) Is: 70
"(A) Independently owned and operated; 71
"(B) More than 50% owned, operated, and controlled by a District-72
based enterprise or not-for-profit business; or 73
"(C) Owned by a non-District-based business enterprise that is 74
more than 50% owned by District residents". 75
(c) Sec. 2338 (D.C. Official Code § 2-218.38) is amended as follows: 76
(1) Paragraph (4) is amended to read as follows: 77
“(4) One or more veterans control the managerial functions of the business 78
enterprise.”. 79
(d) Sec. 2346 (D.C. Official Code § 2-218.46) is amended as follows: 80
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(1) Paragraph (b)(2)(A) is amended to read as follows: 81
“(2)(A) Each government-assisted construction and non-construction con-82
tract for which a certified joint venture is selected as a beneficiary and is granted points or a price 83
reduction pursuant to § 2-218.43 or is selected through a set-aside program under this subpart 84
shall include a requirement that each certified business enterprise holding a majority or minority 85
interest in the certified joint venture shall, with its own organization and resources, perform a per-86
centage of the work equal to or greater than its percentage interest in the joint venture, and, if the 87
certified joint venture subcontracts, at least 35% of the subcontracted effort shall be with certi-88
fied business enterprises.”. 89
(e) Sec. 2361 (D.C. Official Code § 2–218.61) is amended as follows: 90
(1) Subsection (c-1) is amended by adding a new paragraph (4) to read as 91
follows: 92
“(4) A certified business enterprise shall report a material change to the 93
Department within 30 days of having actual knowledge or notice that a material change has oc-94
curred.”. 95
(f) Section 2363 (D.C. Official Code § 2-218.63) is amended as follows: 96
(1) Subsection (a) is amended as follows: 97
(A) Paragraph (2)(B) is amended by striking the phrase “; or” and in-98
serting a semicolon in its place. 99
(B) A new paragraph (D) is added to read as follows: 100
“(D) Fails to report a material change to the Department within 30 101
days of having actual knowledge or notice that a material change has occurred; or”. 102
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(2) Subsection (c) is amended by striking the phrase “, in accordance with 103
procedures set forth in subsection (e) of this section,”. 104
(3) Subsection (e) is amended as follows: 105
(A) Subsection (e)(1)(A) is amended to read as follows: 106
“(e)(1)(A) Any person may file with the Department a formal or 107
informal complaint alleging a violation of this act. 108
“(B) The Department shall maintain a hotline for the 109
filing of informal complaints. 110
“(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, 111
the Department shall investigate each formal or informal complaint filed with it. 112
“(3) The Department may dismiss a complaint without con-113
ducting an investigation if the Department determines the complaint is frivolous or otherwise 114
without merit. If the Department dismisses a formal complaint as frivolous or otherwise without 115
merit, the Department shall prepare a report that includes:” 116
“(A) A statement detailing the formal complaint, 117
including the name, address, and telephone number of the person filing the complaint;” 118
“(B) The name of the person or certified joint ven-119
ture alleged to be in violation of this act; 120
“(C) The facts and law that are considered in rendering 121
the determination; and 122
“(D) Any other information considered in rendering 123
the determination.”. 124
(B) Paragraph (4) is repealed. 125
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(C) New paragraphs (5) and (6) are added to read as follows: 126
“(5) After the completion of an investigation conducted pursuant to 127
this subsection, the Department shall take such enforcement action, if any, it deems appropriate. 128
“(6) The Department shall maintain a record listing all formal com-129
plaints, which shall contain: 130
“(A) The name of the person alleged to be in violation of 131
this act; 132
“(B) The date the formal complaint was made to the De-133
partment; and 134
“(C) A description of the formal complaint.”. 135
(4) Subsection (g) is amended to read as follows: 136
“(g)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (8) of this subsection, before issu-137
ing a civil penalty to, or denying, suspending, changing, or revoking a certification, a person or a 138
certified joint venture, the Department shall issue a notice of determination to the person or certi-139
fied joint venture. The notice of determination shall describe the: 140
“(A) Basis for the Department’s determination; 141
“(B) Proposed penalty, if any; and 142
“(C) Process and timeline by which the person or certified 143
joint venture may request a hearing. 144
“(2) Pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection, a person, or a 145
designated representative on behalf of a certified joint venture, may request a hearing before the 146
Office of Administrative Hearings within 10 days after receiving the notice. If the person or certi-147
fied joint venture does not request a hearing within that time, the civil penalty, denial, suspension, 148
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change, or revocation shall become final, and the person or certified joint venture shall be 149
deemed to have waived the opportunity for judicial review. 150
“(3) If a hearing is requested, the Office of Administrative Hear-151
ings shall consider the matter pursuant to section 19 of the Office of Administrative Hearings Es-152
tablishment Act of 2001, effective March 6, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-76; D.C. Official Code § 2-153
1831.16), and the rules issued pursuant to it. The Department shall bear the burden of establish-154
ing the violation by a preponderance of the evidence. 155
“(4) The Office of Administrative Hearings shall conduct such 156
hearing based on the record developed by the Department. The decision of the Office of Adminis-157
trative Hearings shall be the final administrative decision for the purpose of judicial review. 158
“(5) Notice of a final suspension or revocation of a certification 159
shall be published on the Department’s website.” 160
“(6) A business enterprise or joint venture whose certification has 161
been revoked shall not be eligible to apply for a new certification from the Department until 36 162
months after the date that the revocation became final.” 163
“(7)(A) The Department may at any time, upon motion by a busi-164
ness enterprise or joint venture whose certification has been suspended or revoked, remove the 165
suspension or reissue a certification if the Department determines that it is in the District govern-166
ment’s interest to remove the suspension or reissue the certification before the end of the 36-167
month period and the removal or reissuance will not endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the 168
general public. 169
“(B) In determining whether to remove a suspension or re-170
issue a certification, the Department shall consider whether the business enterprise or joint 171
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venture submitted satisfactory proof that conditions within, or actions by, the business enterprise 172
or joint venture that led to the suspension or revocation have been corrected. 173
“(C) A business enterprise or joint venture whose certifica-174
tion is reissued shall cease to be subject to the 36-month waiting period established in paragraph 175
(6) of this subsection. 176
“(8)(A) If, after an investigation, the Department determines that a 177
business enterprise or joint venture certified under this act has violated any provision of this act in 178
such a manner as to present an imminent danger to the health, safety, or welfare of any person or 179
the general public, the Department may summarily suspend the certification of the business enter-180
prise or joint venture upon issuing the notice of determination described in paragraph (1) of this 181
subsection. 182
“(B)(i) The notice of determination shall inform the busi-183
ness enterprise or joint venture of the reason for the summary suspension and the right to request 184
a hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to this subsection. 185
“(ii) If a business enterprise or joint venture timely 186
requests a hearing on a summary suspension, the Office of Administrative Hearings shall conduct 187
the hearing within 14 days after receiving the request, unless a longer period of time is agreed to 188
by the business enterprise or joint venture, and shall issue a decision within 14 days after the rec-189
ord of the hearing closes.”. 190
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 191
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Chief Financial Officer as the fiscal 192
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, ap-193
proved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 194
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Sec. 4. Effective date. 195
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 196
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as 197
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 198
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code § 1-206(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia 199
Register. 200