h Florida, ONE FLORIDA proposes that "by moving the Office to the Department of Management Services, where the majority of procurement activities take place, the Office will be more successful in helping procurement agents find and recruit qualified minority businesses" (Equity in Contracting).ONE FLORIDA will also improve on financial and technical assistance programs that aid in the development of minority businesses, minority construction firms, and minority franchises. Governor Bush will implement what he calls "a 'lending tree' of banks" which would "form loan pools for contract loans, lines of credit, and capital infusion" (Improvements) to help develop legitimate minority enterprises. Also being proposed is "a race-neutral program of assistance to firms in economically disadvantaged areas" (Equity in Contracting). However, businesses will still be required to prove that they are minority owned, and the penalties for fraud will be severe and strictly enforced.Through the many revisions of ONE FLORIDA, non-discrimination still remains a key point in the program. For instance, the plan calls for "a system that will allow the state to effectively investigate and punish discrimination by state procurement agents" (Improvements). The plan goes on to state that "state employees determined to have participated in race or gender discrimination will undergo disciplinary action, up to and including termination" (Improvements). In the case of businesses, "[those] found to have filed a complaint ofdiscrimination in bad faith will be barred from competing for State business for a period not to exceed five years" (Improvements 3). ONE FLORIDA , although determined to eliminate hiring and contracting based on race and gender, is designed to still protect the rights of the individual against discrimination. 8Opponents of ONE FLORIDA, such as Attorney General Bob Butterworth argue that any anti-affirmative action plan is still discriminato...
