| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Negative | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Negative |
HB 3010 would expand the definition of “economically
disadvantaged person” to mean a person with a disability as defined by federal
law. Currently, federal law defines “disability” as an individual with a
physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
activities.
This legislation would require the Comptroller to establish
goals for state agencies to increase the contract awards to businesses that
qualify as historically underutilized businesses (HUB) because they are owned,
operated, and controlled by a disabled person.
Liberty is unbiased towards the state of each individual,
meaning that liberty requires government to treat everyone the same. If one individual
or group receives a certain benefit then everyone should receive that benefit.
It would follow that anything that is contrary to this basic principle would thus
undermine an individual’s liberty.
Unfortunately, HB 3010 would go against out liberty
principles because it would allow the government to give preferential treatment
to a select group of people; expanding the already in place regime of preferential treatment in state contracting for certain groups.
Awarding government contracts on the basis of a certain person’s
status would not only provide an unfair advantage, it would hurt the
pocketbooks of taxpayers, because the government would not necessarily be
looking for the best value for taxpayers’ money.
For these reasons, we oppose HB 3010 because it will violate
our limited government principle, free market principle, and individual liberty principle.