(INDIANAPOLIS) - Indiana is ending race- and sex-based preferences in state contracting after Attorney General Todd Rokita concluded that parts of the state's supplier diversity program are unconstitutional.
Governor Mike Braun announced the change Wednesday, saying Indiana will replace those preferences with what his administration describes as a merit-based approach to state procurement.
The decision affects the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises components of Indiana's Diversity Business Enterprises Program.
According to Braun's office, the Indiana Department of Administration asked Rokita last August to review the legality of the Governor's Commission on Supplier Diversity, the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises Program and related contracting requirements.
Rokita concluded that race- and sex-based contracting preferences violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Braun said the state will instead move toward a system in which businesses compete for contracts without preferences based on race or sex.
The governor also plans to announce a new Indiana Small Business Program aimed at helping more qualified Indiana small businesses compete for state contracts.
Details of that program have not yet been announced.