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Senate committee tables Carlos Contreras nomination after dispute over apprenticeship grant scoring
Summary
Carlos Contreras, the nominee to lead the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), had his confirmation hearing tabled by the Senate Committee on Director Nominations after lawmakers challenged OEO's scoring for Build It AZ apprenticeship grants that give extra points for "priority populations."
Carlos Contreras, the nominee to lead the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), had his confirmation hearing tabled by the Senate Committee on Director Nominations on May 8, 2025, after committee members sharply questioned OEO scoring criteria for the Build It AZ apprenticeship grant program and raised potential conflicts with Arizona law.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Hoffman, said the solicitation for Build It AZ awarded higher scores to applicants that enrolled "priority populations," including minorities, women and English-language learners, and pressed whether that practice is lawful under the Arizona Constitution and state statutes. "How do you justify deprioritizing programs that may be highly effective but serve workers who don't meet the identity‑based categories?" Hoffman asked during the hearing.
Contreras said the scoring language reflected Department of Labor guidance tied to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). "Priority populations are a DOL defined, definition or, priority. And so because these are DOL dollars, we follow the same methodology that DOL has laid out," Contreras told the committee. He said OEO would have legal staff review the solicitation and promised to provide adjustments "and we'll get back to you on it."
Senators pressed whether following federal grant guidance could be inconsistent with state law. Several members cited recent court rulings and said Arizona statutes and the state constitution prohibit certain race‑ or identity‑based preferences. Senator Bravo and others urged OEO to consult both the Department of Labor and the committee's legal counsel. "If there's a discrepancy between the two laws, which trumps?" one senator asked.
After extended questioning, the committee voted to table the nomination and directed OEO to review the Build It AZ scoring, consult legal counsel, and report back. "We are going to table this today. We will reconvene and let's our offices stay in touch," Chairman Hoffman said when adjourning the hearing.
The dispute centered on an OEO solicitation that, according to committee review, awarded additional points to applicants enrolling at least 80% participants from priority populations. Contreras disputed that the agency was using race or gender to score applicants and said multiple criteria were used in evaluations. Hoffman and other members repeatedly said the solicitation itself listed intersectional characteristics as scoring advantages.
The committee also discussed other aspects of Build It AZ during the hearing: Contreras said the program aims to double registered apprentices in construction and trades by 2026, that OEO had awarded $3,000,000 in capacity grants, and that the office had awarded roughly nine Build It AZ grants so far. Committee members asked for complete application and scoring records for the solicitation.
The committee made no final decision on the nomination at the May 8 hearing. Members agreed to pursue legal review and to confer with federal officials before taking further action. The hearing record shows the committee will reconvene the nomination once those reviews are complete.
