The Statewide Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Program is a Texas state initiative designed to promote full and equal state procurement and contracting opportunities for small businesses owned by Black individuals and other people of color, women, and service-disabled veterans. Then-Texas Governor George W. Bush signed the HUB program into law in 1999 to correct documented discrimination in state contracting. More than 25 years later, the program is still needed to address discrimination faced by historically underutilized businesses in the state procurement process. However, the Texas Comptroller’s Office recently issued emergency rules to remove businesses owned by people of color and women from the program.
To qualify for the Texas HUB Program, a business must be at least 51 percent owned by an economically disadvantaged person. Economically disadvantaged people are defined as people who are economically disadvantaged because they are a member of a certain group, including: 1) Black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, or Native American; women; or service-disabled veterans (with at least a 20% service-connected disability); and 2) who have suffered the effects of discrimination.
On Dec. 2, 2025, the Texas Comptroller’s Office announced that it restructured the HUB program under new emergency rules. Under the emergency rules, businesses owned by people of color and women will be removed from the HUB program. Moving forward, HUB certification will only be available to service-disabled veterans, and the program will be renamed the “Veteran Heroes United in Business” Program or “VetHUB.” Businesses that have a HUB certification connected to their owners’ race, ethnicity, or sex will have their certification revoked. In the first six months of Fiscal Year 2025, there were 15,790 HUB-certified businesses in Texas, and 485 of them were owned by service-disabled veterans who are men. With the state’s latest actions, more than 15,000 businesses (nearly 97% ) owned by people of color and women lost their HUB certifications.
The Texas HUB program helps level the playing field for business owners who have experienced discrimination, ensuring equal opportunities are available to these businesses in state procurement and contracting. The program offers free certification, education and training, technical assistance, networking, mentorship, subcontracting opportunities, and increased visibility in a statewide directory. The program does not establish quotas for hiring HUB-certified businesses. However, it is a good faith program that sets aspirational goals that state agencies generally strive to meet. The program does not require that the state or localities consider the race or gender of the business owner when deciding who to contract with. HUB-certified businesses must still compete for contracts. They do not automatically receive contracts.
Yes. Since its creation, the Texas HUB program has certified over 15,000 businesses. In Fiscal Year 2025 alone, HUB businesses secured roughly $2 billion in contract awards, 11% of the state’s total procurement spending. While the HUB program improved access to state contracts for historically underutilized businesses, it has not solved the problem of race- and gender-based discrimination in state contracting.
No. The Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is a state executive agency responsible for collecting taxes and managing revenues of the Texas state government. In addition to its fiscal duties, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts manages a variety of funds and programs, including the Texas HUB Program. According to the Texas Government Code, state agencies, including the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, are permitted to propose rules that create new regulations or modify existing ones. However, in Texas, the ability to create, amend, or repeal a law is primarily held by the Texas Legislature, which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts does not have the power to make business owners of color and women business owners ineligible for the HUB program, as these requirements are in statute and would require legislative, not executive, action to remove.
While the HUB program is suspended, Texas HUB-certified businesses can:
Check their HUB expiration date and leverage their existing work history and performance, rather than relying on formal certification, when communicating with current agency contacts.
Continue to identify and compete for state contracts and other certifications.
Update their contractor NAICS code and profiles to make sure their businesses are listed accurately in the Centralized Master Bidders List, SAM.gov, and any relevant agency directories.
Check their HUB expiration date and leverage their existing work history and performance, rather than relying on formal certification, when communicating with current agency contacts.
Explore local opportunities to partner with state agencies and prime contractors.
Contact state lawmakers and their staff and ask them to urge the Texas Comptroller’s Office to reinstate the HUB program.
Companies bidding on Texas state contracts with an expected value of at least $100,000 must continue to comply with agency and statutory requirements for a HUB Subcontracting Plan, including making good faith efforts to implement the plan.
If the Texas HUB Program is not restored:
New HUB certifications will not be issued, and expiring ones will not be renewed.
Businesses owned by historically underrepresented groups (i.e., Black people, other people of color, and women) will permanently lose their HUB certifications unless they demonstrate ownership and control by a service-disabled veteran.
Expiring HUBs will be removed from the active directory, resulting in lost visibility and outreach advantages.
Prime contractors will struggle to meet subcontracting plan goals, limiting teaming options for small businesses.
State agencies are unlikely to meet HUB participation targets, potentially skewing contract awards toward incumbents.
Businesses owned by historically underrepresented groups (i.e., Black people, other people of color, and women) will face barriers in obtaining state contracts.
The size of the HUB program will be significantly reduced.
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