CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief urging the court not to approve an agreement that would threaten the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program administered under U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations.
The DBE Program, created by Congress in 1983 under President Reagan, tasks states with overseeing the administration of major federally funded transportation and infrastructure projects. It also ensures that contracts are awarded in a fair and nondiscriminatory way and has given minority and women-owned small businesses the ability to compete for major infrastructure projects across the country.
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“For 42 years, the DBE program has helped level the playing field for minority and women-owned businesses in maintaining and expanding America’s transportation infrastructure,” Raoul said. “I will continue to stand with my fellow attorneys general and others who are challenging this administration’s misguided attempts to eliminate these programs and erase decades of progress we have made towards equity.”
In 2023, two construction companies filed a lawsuit against the DBE program, arguing it was unconstitutional. After President Trump entered office, the federal government switched sides in the ongoing lawsuit, joining with the plaintiffs in asking the court to restrict or eliminate the DBE program nationwide.
In their brief, filed with the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Raoul and the coalition argue that the order requested by the federal government would exceed the proper role of the court in the country’s adversarial system of government because the parties requesting the order take the same position on the issues in the case.
Joining Raoul in leading the coalition are the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington. They were joined in filing the amicus brief by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
