In 2020 we worked with then OC Board of Supervisors Chairwoman, Michelle Steel's office with her District Director, Tim Whitacre, to upgrade the county Veteran hiring. Old policy was 5 points added to a Veteran applicant's overall score. New policy guarantees the Veteran, Veteran Spouse, a Disabled Veteran, Disabled Veteran Spouse and a deceased Veteran's spouse would receive an interview, regardless of how many applicants, providing they are qualified.

In 2020, we again worked with OC Board Of Supervisors, Chairwoman, Michelle Steel's District Director, Tim Whitacre to adopt the State of California's DVBE 3% utilization program on an MOU and combine that with their existing Local Small Business 5% utilization for a combined bid preference of 8%.

We're proud to announce the OC Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to adopt both programs. We want to thank all the Supervisors for their aye vote.

100% property tax exemption for our 100% DISABLED VETERANS. This bill has made it out of Senate Governmental Organization, Senate Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs and off suspense and out of Senate Appropriations. We're proud to work with Army Veteran, Senator Bob Archuleta.

Upgrading the Small Business and DVBE Option from $250k to $500k. This bill has made it out of Senate Governmental Organization, Senate Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs and off suspense and out of Senate Appropriations. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for vote. We're proud to work with Army Veteran, Senator Bob Archuleta on this bill.

Upgrading the Small Business and DVBE Option from $250k to $500k. This bill has made it out of Senate Governmental Organization, Senate Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs and off suspense and out of Senate Appropriations. The bill now heads to the Senate floor for vote. We're proud to work with Army Veteran, Senator Bob Archuleta on this bill.

This bill is to create a minimum 10% VBE (Veteran Business Enterprise) utilization/bid preference for Veteran owned businesses nationwide, as it relates to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. We’re working with Congresswomen Michelle Steel (R)and Katie Porter (D).

We asked Senator Archuleta to sponsor our prime contractor DVBE utilization accountability bill. Our team was able to work with big labor to change some verbiage; which pushed our bill further. This bill did not make it out of Assembly. We want to revive this bill. Senator Archuleta is an Army Veteran.

This bill would require that information to include proof of payment for work done by the DVBE, upon request of the awarding department, and the amount and percentage of work the prime contractor committed to provide to one or more DVBEs under the contract. The bill would also require every state contract for which DVBE participation is included in the bid to contain a provision requiring the contractor to comply with all rules, regulations, ordinances, and statutes that apply to the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program. Signed by the Governor, thank you Assemblyman and Army Veteran, Bill Brough.

AB 1365, Committee on Veterans Affairs. Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program.
Under existing law, the administering agency for the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program is the Department of General Services, except in the case of contracts for professional bond services. Existing law requires the Director of General Services to adopt written policies and guidelines establishing a uniform process for state contracting to provide a disabled veteran business enterprise (DVBE) participation incentive to bidders, which all state agencies are required to use when awarding contracts. Existing law requires an awarding department, upon completion of an awarded contract for which a commitment to achieve a DVBE goal was made, to require the prime contractor that entered into a subcontract with a DVBE to certify to the awarding department specified information relating to amounts paid under the contract.
This bill would require an awarding department to maintain all records of the information provided by the prime contractor pursuant to these provisions and to retain the records for a minimum of 6 years after collection. The bill would direct the awarding department to establish appropriate review procedures for those records to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the award amounts and paid amounts reported.

We partnered with Senator Stone to sponsor a property tax exemption bill for 100% Disabled Veterans and 65 and over. The bill was killed in appropriations because of the burden it caused county assessors with the salary restrictions of $100k married household and single $65k. We advised against this, because of the complications and the reality of Veterans being able to afford a home in California. We want to revive this bill.

Our team was made aware of the Assembly Member Cervantes bill, which wasn’t good for the Small Business & DVBE option. We requested time to speak with the bill staffer and explained why the bill was bad for the SB/DVBE community. The bill staffer listened and changed up the entire bill. This bill made it further in the process, then in the past, but was ultimately killed due to some interagency conflicts. We will make adjustments and hope to find a sponsor who will carry it through to the Governor's desk.

We asked Senator Archuleta to sponsor our prime contractor DVBE utilization accountability bill. Our team was able to work with big labor to change some verbiage; which pushed our bill further. This bill did not make it out of Assembly. We want to revive this bill. Senator Archuleta is an Army Veteran.