NC budget eliminates minority business office, folds health equity office into broader division

North Carolina’s new state budget abolishes the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses and eliminates the standalone Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, folding its functions into a broader public health division, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.

The HUB Office, part of the Department of Administration, connected minority-owned businesses — including those owned by Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, female, socially or economically disadvantaged, or disabled individuals — with state contracting opportunities, the N&O reported. The budget also repeals several state laws intended to increase opportunities for minority-owned businesses to win government contracts, including a provision requiring that at least 10 percent of state construction project dollars go to minority-owned businesses.

Department of Administration Secretary Gabriel Esparza, the first Latino to head a cabinet department in the state’s history, said his agency was “deeply disappointed by the elimination of the HUB Office.” He told the N&O that 10 employees would lose their jobs as a result.

Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat who signed the Republican-drafted budget, criticized the cuts during a signing ceremony Tuesday.

“Our Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities — it is a fact that people of different races experience different health outcomes,” he said. “If you were blind to the fact that different health concerns impact different populations differently, you are going to miss out on opportunities to improve people’s quality of life.”

The Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities had been in place for more than 35 years, according to the N&O. Black women in North Carolina are about three times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes, according to reports the office published. The budget prohibits creation of a separate entity to carry out those functions going forward, the N&O reported.

The closures are part of a broader Republican effort to eliminate programs and initiatives that consider race, sex and other characteristics in government and education, the N&O reported. House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger did not respond to the N&O’s requests for comment on the closures.