AUSTIN — Today, S.B. 116, authored by Senator Hinojosa, was overwhelmingly voted out of the Texas Senate. S.B. 116 will add a service disabled Veteran in determining whether a business is a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) for purposes of state contracting.

As of now, a HUB is a business that is at least 51% owned by an Asian Pacific American, African American, Hispanic American, Native American and/or American Woman. These are businesses that have historically been socially and economically disadvantaged. S.B. 116 will consider businesses owned by Veterans who have at least a 20% service-connected disability to be considered for HUB Certification. Each state agency shall make a good faith effort to utilize HUBs in contracts for construction, services, and commodities purchases.

"S.B. 116 is important legislation for our disabled Veterans who are business owners. I am pleased that it passed out of the Senate today with strong bipartisan support. It is imperative that we support our Veterans. It takes great courage and valor to fight for our country, incur an injury, come home and still have the desire to start, own, and operate a business. Veterans with this much tenacity and strength should be recognized for this through HUB designation," Senator Hinojosa.

According to the Texas Veterans Commission, there are between 325,000 and 350,000 service disabled Veterans in Texas and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs reports there are 293 verified service-disabled Veteran businesses from Texas that are currently doing business with the federal government.

###