5:12-181. Aid to minority, women's businesses

a. Beginning with the proceeds received by the authority for the calendar year 1984 from the sale of bonds and for 24 years thereafter, the authority shall set aside $1,200,000.00 annually for the purpose of investing in obligations of the New Jersey Development Authority for Small Businesses, Minorities and Women's Enterprises established pursuant to P.L.1984, c.......... (C...........)(now pending before the Legislature as Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 1828 of 1984).

That amount shall be used by that authority to finance the establishment of minority and women's businesses, as defined pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1984, c......... (C............)(now pending before the Legislature as Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 1828 of 1984), or the operation or expansion of existing minority or women's businesses, or projects to be constructed by minority and women's businesses; and shall be allocated to those businesses and projects in the following areas and time periods:

Years Years Years Years Years Years

Areas 1-3 4-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25

(a) Atlantic

City 100% 90% 80% 50% 30% 20%

(b) South

Jersey 8% 12% 28% 43% 45%

(c) North

Jersey 2% 8% 22% 27% 35%

or the purpose of this paragraph, "South Jersey" means the counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean, and Salem; and "North Jersey" means the remaining 12 counties of the State. No more than 50% of the above amounts shall be made available to women, and no more than 50% of this amount shall be made available to minorities.

b. (1) The authority shall ensure that minority or women's businesses which are in the construction industry or related industries or services, including suppliers of materials and professional construction engineering and design services, shall receive at least 20% of the total expenditures on the total number of eligible projects financed each year by the authority. A business shall be deemed to be a minority or women's business if it meets the definition of that term in section 2 of P.L.1984, c........ (C..........)(now pending before the Legislature as Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 1828 of 1984). The authority shall, in providing financing for eligible projects, impose such conditions as necessary to effectuate this 20% requirement.

(2) The primary obligation for carrying out the 20% minority and women's business set-aside rests with the borrowers of the proceeds of bonds of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority or the licensees in the case of a direct investment. Nothing contained herein, however, shall relieve the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority from the obligation of enforcing the requirement of the 20% set-aside for minority and women's businesses. The borrower or licensee and those of its contractors which will make subcontracts with or purchase substantial supplies from or seek engineering or design services from other firms must seek out all available minority and women's businesses and make every effort to use as many of them as possible on the project in order to satisfy the set-aside requirement. A minority of women's business is available if the project is located in the market area of the minority or women's business and the minority or women's business can perform project services or supply project materials or provide engineering and design services at the time they are needed and at a competitive price. The relevant market area depends on the kind of services or supplies which are needed. The authority will require borrowers, licensees and prime contractors to engage minority and women's businesses from as wide a market area as is economically feasible. A minority or women's business is qualified if it can perform the service or supply the materials that are needed. Borrowers, licensees, and prime contractors will be expected to use minority and women's businesses with less experience than available nonminority enterprises and should expect to provide technical assistance to minority and women's businesses as needed. The authority may waive up to 10% of this 20% set-aside requirement if the borrower of the proceeds of bonds of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority or the licensee in the case of a direct investment demonstrates at a public hearing of the authority that there are not sufficient, relevant, or qualified minority and women's business enterprises whose market areas include the project location to justify a waiver. The borrower or licensee must detail in its waiver request the efforts the borrower or licensee and its potential contractors have exerted to locate and enlist minority and women's business enterprises. The request must indicate the specific minority and women's business enterprises which were contacted and the reason each was not used. Such a waiver request should ordinarily be made after the initial bidding or negotiation procedures prove unsuccessful; however, a borrower or licensee whose eligible project is situated in an area where the minority population is very small may apply for a waiver before requesting bids on its project. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority shall only approve a waiver under exceptional circumstances.

(3) The authority may waive bonding requirements in full or in part in order to facilitate the use of such a business if the business has been rejected by two surety companies authorized to do business in this State. The authority may require a cash deposit, increase the amount of retention, or limit or eliminate periodic payments. Such a waiver may not be extended more than three times. L. 1984, c. 218, s. 33, eff. Dec. 19, 1984.