C&C Constr., Inc. v. Sacramento Municipal Utility District

RAYE, J.,

Concurring.—For good or ill, in 1996 the electorate saw fit to amend the California Constitution to decree that “[t]he state shall not . . . grant preferential treatment ... on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in . . . public contracting.” (Cal. Const., art. I, § 31, subd. (a).) SMUD acknowledges that its preferential treatment policy runs afoul of this constitutional proscription unless it falls within an exception for “action which must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, where ineligibility would result in a loss of…