Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] Press Release California Business Roundtable Board Unanimously Supports Proposition 16
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2020
CONTACT: Brooke Armour
(916) 553-4093
SACRAMENTO—The California Business Roundtable (CBRT) Board of Directors has voted to support Proposition 16, the November ballot measure that will repeal Prop 209 and remove the ban on affirmative action involving race-based or sex-based preferences from the California Constitution. The Board of Directors voted to support Prop. 16 as part of a broader ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, both within CBRT itself, and in the broader business community.
“Proposition 16 will help allow small, minority-owned and women-owned businesses better access to capital, especially in applying for and receiving important state contracts,” said Brett Bittel, Chairman of CBRT. “However, Prop. 16 must be just the beginning of a broader effort by the state. The state must also remove the significant bureaucratic barriers that make it cost-prohibitive for many businesses to engage in the state bidding process. The broader business community is already working to make substantial improvements to diversify supply chains to support more minority- and women-owned businesses. Prop. 16 will remove existing barriers and allow the state to make that same commitment. Prop. 16 is even more critical now, when small, women- and minority-owned businesses are disproportionately affected by the ongoing economic shutdown and support its passage in November.”
At the same time, the CBRT Board of Directors adopted a long-term diversity and inclusion plan as well as a set of guiding principles for the organization and its members.
“Like organizations throughout the country, CBRT has been undergoing a months-long project to determine ways in which we can expand and support better diversity in the business community and within our own organization. The result is a long-term, meaningful approach that includes a set of clear metrics on which we will be held accountable,” said Rob Lapsley, CBRT president. “As the business organization whose membership includes CEOs and senior leadership of some of California’s largest employers, we are committed to engaging in the C-suite conversation, backed by data to be collected by the Center for Jobs and the Economy.”
More information about CBRT’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan can be found at: [[link removed]]
# # #
CALIFORNIA BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE [[link removed]] California Business Roundtable 1301 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 916.553.4093 | [[link removed]] Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]
