B 26-0207 Legislature · 26th Council Period (2025-2026)

Certified Business Enterprise Program Compliance and Enforcement Support Temporary Amendment Act of 2025

This bill temporarily amends the District's Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) Program to clarify rules for businesses seeking certification and improve enforcement. It requires businesses applying for CBE status to be "independently owned and operated" (meaning they manage their own operations without control by another entity), adjusts joint venture work performance rules to align with ownership percentages, and creates clear definitions for formal complaints (written, sworn, notarized) and informal complaints (e.g., phone, email). These changes directly affect businesses applying for or operating under the CBE Program, ensuring consistent enforcement and reducing ambiguity in compliance. The bill aims to strengthen program administration without altering core certification eligibility thresholds.

Bill status signed all 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Council Passage

Jun 2025

Signed into Law

Sep 2025

Introduced Mar 26, 2025 Signed Sep 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossment → Enrollment · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as an enrolled act with minor technical corrections to citations and phrasing. The core policy changes remain: defining 'independently owned and operated' businesses, updating net worth limits for disadvantaged individuals to match federal standards, and establishing a formal complaint process requiring notarization.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'economically disadvantaged individual' was updated to reference the United States Department of Transportation instead of the federal Department of Transportation, and the citation was corrected to 49 C.F.R. § 26.68.

A new definition for 'independently owned and operated' was added to clarify that a business must manage its own operations without control from another entity with a financial interest.

ENFORCEMENT

The process for filing formal complaints was clarified to require the complaint to be submitted in writing, sworn to by the complainant, and notarized.

TECHNICAL

The text was corrected to change 'executor' to 'adding' in the section describing amendments to Section 2331, and the phrase 'the certified business enterprise perform at least 50%' was updated to 'each certified business enterprise holding a majority or minority interest... perform a percentage of the work equal to or greater than its percentage interest'.

Minor formatting and punctuation adjustments were made throughout the text, including the removal of a repealed paragraph reference and the correction of the word 'that' in Section 2363.

Floor votes · Council Jun 3, 2025

How they voted

11–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 12

Jun 3, 2025

D Democratic10

9 Yea 1

90% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 3, 2025

Council · Passed

Council Vote: pass (11-0-1)

council

Apr 1, 2025

Committee

Retained by the Council with comments from the Committee on Business and Economic Development

legislature

Mar 26, 2025

Introduced

B26-0207 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary

legislature

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors