Jerry and Theresa Thompson have spent more than 30 years cultivating deep roots in Houston, Texas. Over that time, they’ve grown Landscape Consultants of Texas into a flourishing business, helping shape and maintain the green spaces that bring life to local parks, playgrounds, and other public grounds.
Now semi-retired and preparing for their two adult children to take over the family enterprise, the Thompsons face a growing threat spreading like weeds across Greater Houston and the Lone Star State: racial discrimination in government contracting.
Like many businesses whose success depends largely on winning large, multi-year government contracts, Landscape Consultants draws 80%-90% of its business from Harris County, the City of Houston, and other local government entities. The company has proven its capabilities, securing contracts like a $1.5 million flood control, tree planting, and maintenance project with Harris County.
Nevertheless, these contract opportunities have dried up in recent years, even when Landscape Consultants submits the lowest, most qualified bid. The culprit? Harris County’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) program that requires a percentage of County contracts go to businesses owned by women or minorities—or in the County’s terms, “socially disadvantaged” individuals.
Nearly all of Landscape Consultants’ 50-member workforce is Hispanic. But because Jerry and Theresa are white, the company is ineligible for the MWBE program’s set-asides and must instead subcontract work it’s fully capable of performing on its own.
Non-compliance can lead to steep consequences: contract termination, withheld payment, and blacklisting from future opportunities. Worse still, Harris County isn’t just enforcing these discriminatory practices—it’s actively driving their spread to other agencies. Under pressure from Harris County, the Port of Houston, Harris Health, and the County’s Metro transit system have already enacted MWBE programs. The County is even bankrolling $200,000 disparity studies for local school districts and community colleges to justify MWBE programs of their own.
The program’s racial classifications are both arbitrary and unconstitutional. They stereotype minority and women business owners as “socially disadvantaged” without requiring any evidence of actual discrimination and are both woefully overinclusive and underinclusive—for instance, Pakistani-owned businesses get a preference, while Afghani-owned businesses do not.
Landscape Consultants is currently challenging similar discriminatory programs by the City of Houston. If the programs are left unchecked, the Thompsons fear their business will soon be unable to compete for public contracts on an equal footing anywhere in the region.
The Constitution’s equal protection guarantee protects the right to be free from unjust racial preferences. And taxpayers should get the best rates for public contracts. So, the Thompsons are fighting back.
Represented free of charge by Pacific Legal Foundation, they filed a federal lawsuit to protect their company’s future and ensure public contractors can provide their communities with the best service at the best price without racial discrimination.
What’s At Stake?
- All individuals have a right to be judged on their individual merit, not immutable characteristics like race. Government contracting programs that assign benefits or burdens based on the race of a company’s owner violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
- For public contracts, taxpayers should get the best work at the best price, period. The government should select contractors based on their ability to perform the work needed, rather than on the race of their owners.
