Taylor, 032411 INAGO, AGO 2011-4

• Case Date: March 24, 2011
• Court: Indiana

The Honorable Greg Taylor AGO 2011-4 Official Opinion No. 2011-4 Indiana Attorney General Opinion March 24, 2011          The Honorable Greg Taylor          Indiana State Senate          200 W. Washington St.          Indianapolis, IN 46204          RE: Governor’s Commission on Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises and State Educational Institutions          Dear Senator Taylor:          You have asked if state educational institutions fall under the jurisdiction of the Governor’s Commission on Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (the “Commission”), established at Ind. Code Chpt. 4-13-16.5, in regard to annual goals for the use of minority and women’s business enterprises. You state that you have discovered that “Indiana’s state funded universities do not believe that they are required to comply with M/WBE percentages in all contracting for construction, professional services, or other services.”          BRIEF ANSWER          State educational institutions are explicitly subject to the contracting goals established by the Commission under Ind. Code § 4-13-16.5-2 (f), and are required to report on minority and women’s business enterprise participation in contracts.          However, the Commission’s direct oversight and supervision of the contracting process does not extend to state educational institutions.          ANALYSIS          The Commission has broad authority to promote the use of minority and women’s business enterprises by all state tax-supported entities, to establish goals in line with Richmond v. Croson, 488 U.S. 469 (1989), and to receive and evaluate data regarding the use of such enterprises in contracts. Ind. Code § 4-13-16.5-2(b)(10).          In particular, Ind. Code § 4-13-16.5-2(f) provides that the Commission shall:

(7) Define the duties, goals, and objectives of the deputy commissioner of the department as created under this chapter to assure compliance by all state agencies, separate bodies corporate and politic, and state educational institutions with state and federal legislation and policy concerning the awarding of contracts (including, notwithstanding section 1(d) of this chapter or any other law, contracts of state educational institutions) to minority and women's business enterprises.

(8) Establish annual goals:

(A) for the use of minority and women's business enterprises; and

(B) derived from a statistical analysis of utilization study of state contracts (including, notwithstanding section 1(d) of this chapter or any other law, contracts of state educational institutions) that are required to be updated every five (5) years.

(10) Ensure that the statistical analysis required under this section:

(A) is based on goals for

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