Committee advances bill requiring small business liaisons at every state agency

Senator Richardson urged the committee to advance SB 656, legislation that would require each state agency to designate a small business liaison and report contract and subcontract information annually to the Office of the Small Business Advocate.

Richardson said the proposal aims to expand access for small businesses to state contracting. She noted California is home to about 4,100,000 small businesses that produce large economic outputs but have high early-failure rates; she cited figures from her presentation that 18.5 percent of new firms fail within the first year and 46.2 percent fail within five years. The bill would require liaisons to post information about contracts, subcontracts, total dollars paid to small-business subcontractors, and contract expiration or bidding periods.

Evan Johnson, acting deputy controller for legislative affairs at the State Controller’s Office, testified in support on behalf of Controller Malia Cohen and noted the office has applied a 25% small business participation goal to its procurements following AB 2019 (effective Jan. 1, 2024). Johnson said the controller’s office supports SB 656 to build the internal infrastructure needed to meet and exceed the state’s small-business procurement goals.

Committee members from both parties expressed support, emphasizing benefits for disabled veteran business enterprises and underserved communities; several senators suggested complementary regulatory reforms to reduce burdens on small firms. The committee vote was recorded and the item was left on call for absent members; staff recorded the committee tally as passing the item and placing it on call, pending final confirmation and fiscal review.