2014 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 39 - Public Finance
RS 39:1952 - Definitions

§1952. Definitions

Unless the context requires otherwise, the following words shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Certification" means verification that a business qualifies for designation as a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise.

(2) "Class of contract basis" means an entire group of contracts having a common characteristic.

(3) "Commercially useful function" means being responsible for execution of a contract or a distinct element of the work under a contract by actually performing, managing, and supervising the work involved.

(4) "Contract" means all types of state agreements, regardless of what they may be called, for the purchase of goods or services, for construction of major repairs, or for public works. "Contract" includes the following:

(a) Awards and notices of award.

(b) Contracts of a fixed price, cost, cost-plus-a-fixed-fee, or incentive types.

(c) Contracts providing for the issuance of job or task orders.

(d) Leases.

(e) Letter contracts.

(f) Purchase orders.

(g) Any supplemental agreements with respect to (a) through (f) of this Paragraph.

(5) "Contract-by-contract basis" means a single contract within a specific class of contracts.

(6) "Contracting bases" means the dollar amount of contracts for public works and procurement of goods and services awarded by a state agency or educational institution during a fiscal year.

(7) "Contractor" means a party who enters into a contract with a state agency or educational institution or a subcontractor or sublessee of such a party.

(8) "Division" means the division of minority and women's business enterprise.

(9) "Educational institution" means a state university, vocational institution, or any other state-supported educational institution.

(10) "Enterprise" means a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise.

(11) "Executive director" means the executive director of the division of minority and women's business enterprise.

(12) "Goods or services" means all purchases for supplies or services made under Chapters 16 and 17 of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, all purchases of materials and supplies made under Chapter 10 of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, including the selection of professional services under Part VII of Chapter 10 of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, and all purchases made for supplies, services, or materials, including selection of professional services, made under any other state law.

(13) "Joint venture" means an association of two or more persons or businesses to carry out a single business enterprise for profit, for which purpose they combine their property, capital, efforts, skills, and knowledge and in which they exercise control and share in profits and losses in proportion to their contributions to the enterprise.

(14) "Minority" means a person who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States residing in Louisiana and who is any of the following:

(a) Black: having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

(b) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin regardless of race.

(c) Asian American: having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.

(d) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having origins in any of the original peoples of North America.

(e) Person with a disability: a person who has a permanent physical impairment which includes any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, speech organs, skin, and endocrine, which substantially limits at least one major life activity of an individual, as defined in R.S. 28:477(3)(a), as verified by two physicians or as certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as meeting the qualifications and approved by the division. The division may require an additional independent medical examination by a physician chosen by the division, at the applicant's expense, prior to approval of an application. For the purpose of this Subparagraph, "disability" shall not mean mental impairment, temporary impairment, alcohol or drug addiction, sexual or behavioral disorders, or substantially limiting illnesses including human immunodeficiency virus.

(15) "Minority business enterprise" or "minority-owned business" means a small business organized for profit performing a commercially useful function which is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority individuals who also control and operate the business. "Control" in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions. "Operate" in this context means being actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.

(16) "Procurement" means the purchase, lease, or rental of any goods or services.

(17) "Public works" means all work including construction, highway and ferry construction, alteration, repair, or improvement other than ordinary maintenance as provided in Chapter 10 of Title 38 or Chapter 1 of Title 48 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 or as provided in any other law.

(18) "Small business" means a small business as defined by the Small Business Administration of the United States Government which for purposes of size eligibility or other factors meets the applicable criteria set forth in Part 121 of Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, and which has its principal place of business in Louisiana.

(19) "State agency" means an agency, department, office, division, board, commission, or correctional or other type of institution, exclusive of an educational institution of the state. State agency does not include the judicial or legislative branch of government except to the extent that procurement or public works for one of these branches is performed by a state agency. State agency shall include the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority.

(20) "Women's business enterprise" means a small business organized for profit performing a commercially useful function which is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more women who are citizens of the United States residing in Louisiana and who also control and operate the business. "Control" in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions. "Operate" in this context means being actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business. In determining whether a business is fifty-one percent owned by one or more women, the percent ownership by a woman shall not be diminished because she is part of a community property regime.

Acts 1984, No. 653, §1, eff. July 1, 1984; Acts 1992, No. 797, §2, eff. July 1, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 803, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1020, §1; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 158, §2, eff. May 7, 1998; Acts 2014, No. 811, §21, eff. June 23, 2014.