Revised City of South Bend Disparity Study Report

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City of South Bend Disoarity Study 2020 studies are not flawed because they cannot control for subjective descriptions such as "quality of education", "culture" and "religion", For example, in unanimously upholding the USDOT DBE Program, the courts agree that disparities between the earnings of minority-owned firms and similarly situ- ated non minority-owned firms and the disparities in commercial loan denial rates between Black business owners compared to similarly situated non minority busi- ness owners are strong evidence of the continuing effects of discrimination. 135 The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals took a "hard look" at the evidence Congress considered, and concluded that the legislature had spent decades compiling evidence of race discrimination in government highway contracting, of barriers to the formation of minority-owned construction businesses, and of barriers to entry. In rebuttal, [the plaintiffs] presented evidence that the data were susceptible to multiple interpretations, but they failed to present affirmative evidence that no remedial action was necessary because minority-owned small businesses enjoy non-discriminatory access to and participation in highway contracts. Thus, they failed to meet their ultimate burden to prove that the DBE program is unconstitutional on this ground .136 Likewise, in holding that the DBE program regulations meet strict scrutiny, the court in the Western States opinion relied on the "substantial body of statistical and anecdotal materials" considered by Congress, including studies based on Cen- sus data that provide "ample" evidence of barriers to the formation of minority- owned firms in the transportation contracting industry. 137 B. Disparate Treatment in the Marketplace: Evidence from the Census Bureau's 2012 Survey of Business Owners Every five years, the Census Bureau administers the Survey of Business Owners ("SBO") to collect data on particular characteristics of businesses that report to the Internal Revenue Service receipts of $1,000 or more.138 The 2012 SBO was 135. Northern Contracting, Inc. v Illinois Department of Transportation, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19868, at `64 (Sept. 8, 2005). 136. Sherbrooke, 345 F.3d. at 970; see also Adorand VII, 228 F.3d at 1175 (plaintiff has not met its burden "of introducing credible, particularized evidence to rebut the government's initial showing of the existence of a compelling interest in remedying the nationwide effects of past and present discrimination in the federal construction procurement subcon- tracting market."). 137. Western States Paving Co., Inc. v Washington State Departmentof Transportation, 407 F.3d 983, 993 (91h Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1170 (2006). 138. See http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/about.html for more information on the Survey. 0 2020 Colette Holt & Associates, All Rights Reserved. 71