Functions of the Department

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.

(a)(1) It shall be the goal and responsibility of the Department to stimulate and foster the economic growth and development of businesses based in the District of Columbia, particularly certified business enterprises, with the intended goals of:

(A) Stimulating and expanding the local tax base of the District of Columbia;

(B) Increasing the number of viable employment opportunities for District residents; and

(C) Extending economic prosperity to local business owners, their employees, and the communities they serve.

(2) Through advocacy, business development programs, and technical assistance offerings, the Department shall seek to maximize opportunities for certified business enterprises to participate in:

(A) The District’s contracting and procurement process;

(B) The District’s economic development activities; and

(C) Federal and private sector business opportunities.

(b) The Department shall administer part D of this subchapter except for those responsibilities assigned to another agency by this subchapter or through an order of the Mayor. The Director shall establish procedures and guidelines for the implementation of the programs established pursuant to part D of this subchapter. The Mayor shall not reassign a responsibility specifically assigned to the Department by this subchapter.

(c) Repealed.

(c-1) The Department shall have the authority to issue grants to local businesses (whether or not certified pursuant to this subchapter), community and neighborhood groups or other nonprofit organizations as necessary to effectuate the mission of the Department and the purposes of this subchapter.

(d) Repealed.

(e) The Department, in coordination with the agency contracting officer, shall have the authority, in reviewing participation by certified business enterprises, to disregard participation by a certified business enterprise when that certified business enterprise serves no commercially useful function in the performance of a contract.

(Oct. 20, 2005, D.C. Law 16-33, § 2313, 52 DCR 7503; Sept. 18, 2007, D.C. Law 17-20, § 2062(a), 54 DCR 7052; July 18, 2008, D.C. Law 17-207, § 2(c), 55 DCR 6107; Apr. 20, 2010, D.C. Law 18-141, § 2(c), 57 DCR 1485; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-171, §§ 12(a), 13(a), 59 DCR 6190; June 10, 2014, D.C. Law 20-108, § 2(d), 61 DCR 3892; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, § 2182(a)(1), 65 DCR 9388.)

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 17-20 rewrote subsecs. (a) and (c)(1).

D.C. Law 17-207, in subsec. (c)(1)(F), substituted “the achievement of the goals set forth in § 2-218.41” for “the achievement of goals related to contracting with, and procuring from, certified business enterprises; in subsec. (c)(1)(G), substituted ”related to contracting with, and procuring from, certified business enterprises“ for ”the achievement of the goals set forth in § 2-218.41“; rewrote subsec. (c)(2); and added subsec. (c-1).

D.C. Law 18-141, in subsec. (c)(1), substituted “Certification” for “Certification, Compliance, and Enforcement,” in the introductory language, substituted “§§ 2-218.22, 2-218.50, and 2-218.53” for “§ 2-218.22” in subpar. (E), and repealed subpars. (F), (G), and (H).

The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-171 substituted a colon for the semicolon at the end of the introductory paragraph of (c)(2)(A); and validated previously made technical corrections.

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-108 substituted “Functions “ for “Organization and functions” in the section heading; substituted “based in the” for “based in and serving the” in (a)(1); deleted “that occur in the District of Columbia” from the end of (a)(2)(C); repealed (c) and (e); substituted “issue” for “issues” in (c-1); and added (e).

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 day) addition, see § 2313 of Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-168, July 26, 2005, 52 DCR 7667).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-513, October 25, 2006, 53 DCR 9091).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-575, December 19, 2006, 54 DCR 24).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2062(a) of Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-74, July 25, 2007, 54 DCR 7549).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification, Benefit Expansion, and Grant-making Authority Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-156, October 18, 2007, 54 DCR 10919).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification, Benefit Expansion, and Grant-making Authority Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-251, January 23, 2008, 55 DCR 1259).

For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-108, § 4(c), see § 7005 of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-377, July 14, 2014, 61 DCR 7598, 20 STAT 3696).

For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-108, § 4(c), see § 7005 of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-449, October 10, 2014, 61 DCR 10915, 20 STAT 4188).

For temporary (90 days) repeal of D.C. Law 20-108, § 4(c), see § 7005 of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Support Second Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-566, January 9, 2015, 62 DCR 884, 21 STAT 541).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of the Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Law 16-214, March 6, 2007, law notification 54 DCR 2761).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of the Department of Small and Local Business Development Subcontracting Clarification, Benefit Expansion, and Grant-making Authority Temporary Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Law 17-96, January 29, 2008, law notification 55 DCR 3403).

Short Title

Short title: Section 2061 of D.C. Law 17-20 provided that subtitle G of title II of the act may be cited as the “Department of Small and Local Business Development Amendment Act of 2007”.

Editor's Notes

Applicability of D.C. Law 20-108:

Section 4(a) of D.C. Law 20-108 provided that applications pending as of June 10, 2014, shall not be subject to the provisions of the act.

Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 20-108(b) provided that, except as provided in § 2-218.46(f), contracts existing or pending as of June 10, 2014, shall not be affected by the provisions of the act.

Section 4(c) of D.C. Law 20-108 provided that the act shall apply upon the inclusion of its fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan, as certified by the Chief Financial Officer to the Budget Director of the Council in a certification published by the Council in the District of Columbia Register.

Section 4(c) of D.C. Law 20-108 was repealed by D.C. Law 20-155, § 7005.


Download our app to see the most-to-date content.