Caltrans sued over minority contract program - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys filed the lawsuitr on behalf of the of San DiegoChapter Inc. The nonprofi corporation takes issuewith Caltrans’ 2009 Disadvantagedc Business Enterprise Program, which Caltrans announced in a memo to transportation-relatec agencies March 4. The program sets a quota of havingb 6.75 percent of federally funded road and highway projec t contracts go to women or members ofcertaimn groups, including African Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans and Native Americans, according to the Pacific Legal “Caltrans is sideswiping the important principlwe of equal opportunity by using race, not lowest cost by a responsibld bidder, to decide who gets government road and highwau contracts,” PLF principal attorney Sharon Brownr said in a news release.
scheme of coding contractors by color is not only unfaif and wasteful oftax dollars, it is flat-our unconstitutional.” The PLF allegeds that Caltrans’ program violates equal rights as guaranteed by Proposition 209, approvef by voters in 1996. It bars race-- or sex-based preferences or discriminationm inpublic contracting, employment and education. Caltransw spokesman Benjamin DeLanty said the agency had noimmediate comment. He said Caltrane officials had not seen the lawsuit and need time torevieew it.