State veteran contracting preferences, explained

A goal is not a preference

Most states publish a participation goal — three percent is common. A goal creates pressure on an agency across a year of spending. It does not change the outcome of any single bid, and a firm that expects it to will be disappointed.

A price preference does change the outcome

Here your bid is treated as lower than it is for evaluation purposes, so you can be beaten on price and still win. The size of the adjustment is what matters, and it ranges from five percent to fifteen.

An award window is stronger still

A handful of states go further and direct the award outright. Kansas provides that a contract shall be awarded to a certified disabled veteran business bidding within ten percent of the lowest responsible bid. The word is shall, not may.

Source: K.S.A. 75-3740

And some states do nothing

Fourteen run no veteran certification, no preference and no goal. That is worth knowing before you spend time looking for one.

Why published figures are so unreliable

Preferences get repealed and the write-ups do not catch up. Bills that never passed are reported as law. Percentages belonging to a minority-business program get attached to the veteran one. We cite the statute on every state page for exactly this reason.

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