Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 200 § 200.045 — Required participants; rebuttable presumption of responsibility and good faith

Required participants; rebuttable presumption of responsibility and good faith efforts to encourage participation in public contracts. (1) As used in this section, “required participant” means: (a) A disadvantaged business enterprise; (b) A minority-owned business, a woman-owned business or a veteran-owned business; or (c) An emerging small business. (2) If a public contract requires participation from a required participant and a bidder or proposer for the public contract is not a required participant, a contracting agency may award the public contract to the bidder or proposer only if the bidder or proposer: (a) Demonstrates that the bidder or proposer is responsible; and (b) Has made good faith efforts to encourage required participants to participate in the public contract. (3) A contracting agency may rebuttably presume that for the purposes of this section a bidder or proposer is responsible and has made good faith efforts to encourage required participants to participate in the public contract if the bidder or proposer takes all of these actions: (a) Attends presolicitation or prebid meetings that the contracting agency scheduled to inform disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses of contracting and subcontracting or material supply opportunities available in connection with a public contract; (b) Identifies and selects specific economically feasible units of the public contract that disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses may perform in order to increase the likelihood that required participants will participate in the public contract; (c) Advertises the opportunities described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection in general circulation publications, trade association publications and publications that serve an audience or readership that consists primarily of minorities, women, veterans and emerging small businesses; (d) Provides written notice of the opportunities described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection to a reasonable number of specific disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses that the bidder or proposer identified from a list of enterprises or businesses that the Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity certified under ORS 200.055, in sufficient time to allow the enterprises or businesses to participate effectively; (e) Follows up on the bidder’s or proposer’s initial solicitations of interest by contacting the enterprises or businesses to which the bidder or proposer provided notice under paragraph (d) of this subsection to determine with certainty whether the enterprises or businesses are interested in the opportunities described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection; (f) Provides interested disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses with adequate information about plans, specifications and requirements for subcontracting or material supply work in connection with the public contract; (g) Negotiates in good faith with interested disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses, and did not without justifiable reason reject as unsatisfactory bids or proposals that the enterprises or businesses prepared; (h) Advises and assists interested disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses to obtain, when necessary, bonding, lines of credit or insurance that the contracting agency or contractor requires; (i) Makes efforts to encourage disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses to participate in the public contract that the contracting agency may reasonably expect will produce a level of participation that meets the contracting agency’s goals or requirements; and (j) Uses the services of minority community organizations, minority contractor groups, local, state and federal minority business assistance offices and other organizations that the Governor’s Policy Advisor for Economic and Business Equity identifies as providing assistance in recruiting disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses and emerging small businesses for participation in public contracts. (4) A contracting agency may rebuttably presume that for the purposes of this section a bidder or proposer is not responsible and has not made good faith efforts to encourage required partici