Home / Censorship Advocates / Abigail Spanberger
AS
HIGHUSAdded 2025-03-16

Abigail Spanberger

Governor
Commonwealth of Virginia
Freedom Threat Index66%
SIGNIFICANT RESTRICTIONS

Profile

Governor of Virginia and primary driver of HB61, which mandates that 42% of state government contracts be awarded to "certified SWaM businesses" — Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned businesses. The legislation sets aside contracts under $100,000 exclusively for SWaM-certified vendors, structurally barring white male-owned small businesses from bidding on a substantial tranche of state procurement. Critics argue the scheme constitutes explicit race and sex discrimination in government contracting and may face constitutional challenge under Equal Protection principles.

Key Actions & Positions

Championed HB61 mandating 42% of Virginia state procurement go to SWaM-certified (women- and minority-owned) businesses
Bill creates a set-aside for contracts under $100,000 exclusively for SWaM vendors — barring non-certified businesses from bidding
SWaM certification framework excludes white male-owned businesses by definition, making the scheme an explicit demographic preference in state contracting
Policy affects billions in annual Virginia procurement across state agencies, departments, and authorities
Critics note the scheme may conflict with Equal Protection Clause jurisprudence, including Adarand Constructors v. Peña (1995) and SFFA v. Harvard (2023)

Tags

SWaMprocurement-quotagovernment-contractingrace-discriminationsex-discriminationDEIVirginia

Linked Incidents (1)

CRITICAL2025-01-01
Virginia HB61 — SWaM Mandate Bars Non-Certified Businesses from Contracts Under $100K
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