NC S568

Appropriates $500,000 to the Department of Administration's Office of Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) for outreach plans and programs to educate and foster interaction between minority and nonminority businesses in state contracting.

Allocates $15,000,000 to the ReTOOLNC grant program to assist historically underutilized businesses in recovering from COVID-19 pandemic economic impacts.

Provides $2,000,000 to community development financial institutions and $1,000,000 to African American and community-based organizations for minority business support and state certification training.

Appropriates $2,000,000 for local governments to study disparities in awarding public contracts and $250,000 for software to track state compliance with minority contractor participation goals.

Clarifies that contract awards to the "lowest responsible bidder" must consider compliance with G.S. 143-128.2(c), past performance, and cooperation with other bidders and project participants, with effect date July 1, 2021.