DOT civil rights office briefs House Transportation Committee on DBE, ADA and outreach work Rashad Joseph of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities told the House Transportation Committee March 24 that the DOT Civil Rights Office oversees DBE/ACDBE certification, ADA and Title VI compliance, workforce development and community outreach; he said a recent federal interim rule has forced widespread DBE recertification.

Rashad Joseph from Alaska's DOT revealed how recent federal changes have thrown the certification process for disadvantaged businesses into disarray, impacting vital community outreach and compliance efforts.

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#AK #AlaskaCivilRights #CitizenPortal #DisadvantagedBusiness

Committee adopts TCAT oversight manual and DBE plan, and approves annual financial-disclosure list The committee approved a county purchasing oversight manual for TCAT to address FTA review findings, adopted a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program plan required by the FTA, and adopted the annual list of officers required to file financial-disclosure statements.

Tompkins County is taking major steps to enhance transit compliance and support small businesses with a new oversight manual and updated DBE plan.

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#TompkinsCounty #NY #ProcurementEthics #CitizenPortal #TompkinsCountyTransit #FTACompliance #DisadvantagedBusiness

Council outlines DBE implementation steps and flags HRA payment-standard pressures Council staff said they are implementing changes to comply with the U.S. DOT interim DBE rule and put the issue in an incident-command structure; council members reported rising rent pressures and upcoming decisions on HRA payment standards.

The Metropolitan Council is tackling new federal regulations on disadvantaged business enterprises while grappling with rising rent pressures that could impact housing affordability in Minnesota.

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#MN #CitizenPortal #DisadvantagedBusiness #PolicyChange #MinnesotaHousing

Musk’s Neuralink falsified federal forms, claims to qualify for racial diversity program The company, owned by the world's wealthiest man, says it is a "small disadvantaged business"

open.substack.com/pub/elonmusk...

On April 24, #Musk's $9 billion neurotechnology company falsely self-certified as a " #small #disadvantagedbusiness" (SDB) on a federal filing, a designation that qualifies the company for preferential treatment as part of a racial and ethnic diversity initiative.