§ 10A-159. Legislative findings and policy.

(a)

The County government finds that the public interest will be served by encouraging businesses to locate and remain in Prince George's County through the provision of local bid and proposal preferences and participation requirements for County-based businesses and County-based small businesses in the award of contracts in direct government procurement.

(b)

The County government finds that the local bid and proposal preferences and local participation requirements in direct government procurement prescribed in Subdivision 1 of this Division will serve the public interest because the resulting growth and development of County-based businesses and County-based small businesses will have a significant, positive impact on the economic health of the County by, among other things, increasing the County's commercial tax revenue and improving access to good paying careers for local residents. This will help achieve the public interest objective of diversifying and enlarging the County's tax base that funds vital public services, which is currently overly reliant on residential property taxes.

(c)

The County government finds that the local bid and proposal preferences and local participation requirements in direct government procurement prescribed in Subdivision 1 of this Division will serve the public interest objective of rewarding those businesses which contribute the most to the County's economy, especially County-based small businesses, which are the most likely businesses to create jobs for County residents.

(d)

The County government finds that because of the lack of local career opportunities for County residents, only forty percent (40%) of the jobs in the County are held by County residents (sixty percent (60%) are held by non-County residents) and approximately sixty percent (60%) of the County's resident workforce works outside of the County on a daily basis, the highest percentage of out-migration of a local workforce of any jurisdiction in the Washington DC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which:

(1)

Leads to insufficient and inconsistent daytime consumer spending in local businesses, including retail and professional services, which hurts the County's commercial tax base; and

(2)

Causes longer commute times for local residents and contributes to worsening traffic congestion, which is among the worst in the nation; expensive road repair and maintenance costs to county taxpayers; and reduced time for parental supervision of county school-aged children by working parents.

(e)

The County government finds that the lack of local career opportunities for County residents contributes to the County having the highest poverty and unemployment rates among suburban jurisdictions in the Washington DC MSA and having the highest foreclosure and uninsured rates of any jurisdiction in the State of Maryland. The lack of nearby career opportunities limits access to employment for low-to-moderate income County residents who have more limited transportation options.

(f)

The County government finds that too few of the existing career and business opportunities related to government funded projects benefit County residents, which contributes in part to the overall lack of employment and business opportunities in the County for County residents, particularly low-to-moderate income residents, County-based businesses, and County-based small businesses. Further, the County government finds that from 2000 to 2011, there was little to no new net job creation in the County, despite nearly an 8% increase in the County's population.

(g)

The County government finds a substantial reason and basis for the County resident hiring goals prescribed in Subdivision 2 of this Division, including the goal that at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the work hours on direct government procurement, be worked by County residents, because the County resident hiring goals will serve the County's public and proprietary interest by:

(1)

Reducing the out-migration of the local workforce, which will increase local consumer spending in county businesses and increase the County's commercial tax base;

(2)

Helping reduce the County's worsening traffic congestion, road repair costs, and commute times for working parents; and

(3)

Increasing access to nearby career opportunities for County residents with jobs paying a prevailing wage and likely to include health and other benefits, which will reduce the County's unemployment, uninsured, foreclosure, and poverty rates and assist County residents in affording the high cost of living in the Washington DC MSA.

(h)

The County government finds that the County resident hiring goals prescribed in Subdivision 2 of this Division, including the goal that at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the work hours on direct government procurements be worked by County residents, will not unduly burden or unreasonably restrict access to employment in the County for out of state residents. Because Subdivision 2 of this Division only requires a demonstration of "best efforts" to meet the local hiring goals (rather than requiring employers to meet the local hiring percentages themselves), in addition to including the appropriate exceptions, the provisions of Subdivision 2 of this Division are not unnecessarily broad and are sufficiently flexible and tailored to achieve the public interest objectives outlined in this Section.

(i)

The County government finds that County-based minority business enterprises undergo extensive certification review through their existing minority business enterprise certification procedures, which establish their principal places of operation and typically contain size of business restrictions, like the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Minority or Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MBE/DBE) Program, and which are comparably rigorous to County-based business and County-based small business certification under this Subtitle. It is in the public interest to reduce the redundancy and regulatory burden of County-based business and County-based small business certification procedures for businesses that have already been approved for minority business enterprise certification.

(CB-17-2011; CB-74-2016)