D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a bill on Nov. 21 that requires federal agencies to include in their annual budget justifications: the amount they spent on advertising contracts with small, disadvantaged businesses and firms owned by women and minorities in the previous fiscal year, and projections of their spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
In 2016, Norton led members of Congress in requesting a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on their advertising contracts. The GAO report, released in July 2018, showed that in fiscal year 2017, only 16% of the federal government’s advertising contract obligations went to women and minorities.
In recent years, Norton co-led a letter to President Joe Biden with U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Val Demings (D-Fla.) seeking answers about the inequity in federal advertising contracts awarded to media and advertising agencies owned by women and minorities as compared to the rest of the industry. A GAO study found that over a five-year period, the federal government spent more than $5 billion on advertising but Black-owned businesses received $51 million or 1.02% of those funds.
Norton’s present bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Lee and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.).
“As the largest advertiser in the United States, the federal government has an obligation to ensure fair access for minority and women-owned media companies,” Norton said. “My bill would ensure that federal agencies are striving to reach minorities and women, who often get their news from outlets that serve more specific communities.”
