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County broadens Construction Diversity & Equity Fund uses to support labor compliance work
Summary
The board amended public contract review board rules to let the Construction Diversity & Equity Fund (CDEF) support labor compliance monitoring, prevailing‑wage enforcement, apprenticeship verification and other workforce‑equity efforts; staff warned future budget moves could reduce funds available for pre‑apprenticeship and small‑business assistance.
Multnomah County commissioners voted to amend the public contract review board rules on May 21 to expand allowable uses for the Construction Diversity & Equity Fund (CDEF), enabling the fund to support labor compliance monitoring, prevailing‑wage enforcement, and apprenticeship verification.
County procurement and supplier‑diversity staff described the CDEF (established in 2018) as a 1% assessment on qualifying county construction projects to promote a diverse construction workforce and support certified small businesses. Maggie Chavez, the county supplier‑diversity officer, said the fund currently supports pre‑apprenticeship programs, apprentice retention wraparound services and technical assistance to certified (COBID) firms; the labor compliance program recovered more than $27,000 in worker wages in FY26 and identified numerous compliance concerns in the last year.
Staff noted there is no immediate FY26 General Fund impact from the rule change, but moving the labor compliance program’s funding from the General Fund to CDEF in FY27 would require future board budget action and could reduce resources for the fund’s other uses in tighter construction cycles. The board adopted the resolution; commissioners praised the work as an investment in workforce equity and enforcement of prevailing‑wage protections.
