President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration plans to support legislation offered by District of Columbia Democratic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton that would ensure federal agencies advertise with minority-owned businesses, including the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – During National Small Business Week, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) t introduced a bill that requires federal agencies to include in their annual budget justifications the amount they spent on advertising contracts with small disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities in the previous fiscal year, as well as projections of their spending for the upcoming fiscal year. Norton and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) also sent letters to all 12 House appropriations subcommittees requesting that they direct each agency under their jurisdiction to include this information in their fiscal year 2021 budget justifications. The report
“I’m born and raised in this segregated city without any Home Rule rights and no equal rights when the city was segregated,” Norton said. “I’m a third generation Washingtonian and I’m the great, great granddaughter of a runaway slave, so motivation is built into my DNA.”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is set to begin work on a report detailing advertising spending by federal agencies—particularly as it pertains to Black and Latino media companies.