658
Opinion of the Court
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
A Jacksonville, Florida, ordinance accords preferential treatment to certain minority-owned businesses in the award of city contracts. In this case we decide whether, in order to have standing to challenge the ordinance, an association of contractors is required to show that one of its members would have received a contract absent the ordinance. We hold that it is not.
I
A
In 1984, respondent Jacksonville enacted an ordinance entitled "Minority Business Enterprise Participation," which required that 10% of the amount spent on city contracts be set aside each fiscal year for so-called "Minority Business Enterprises" (MBE's). City of Jacksonville Purchasing Code §§ 126.604(a), 126.605(a) (1988). An MBE was defined as a business whose ownership was at least 51% "minority" or female, § 126.603(a), and a "minority" was in turn defined as a person who is or considers himself to be black, Spanish-speaking, Oriental, Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, or handicapped, § 126.603(b). Once projects were earmarked for MBE bidding by the city's chief purchasing officer, they were "deemed reserved for minority business enterprises only." §§ 126.604(c), 126.605(c). Under the ordinance, "[m]athematical certainty [was] not required in determining the amount of the set aside," but the chief purchasing officer was required to "make every attempt to come as close as possible to
H. Findley, Ronald A. Zumbrun, and James W. Polk; and for Public Citizen et al. by Paul R. Q. Wolfson, Alan B. Morrison, John A. Powell, and Steven R. Shapiro.
Richard Ruda filed a brief for the National League of Cities et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
Lee Fisher, Attorney General of Ohio, Andrew I. Sutter, Assistant Attorney General, and Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General of Michigan, filed a brief for the State of Ohio et al. as amici curiae.
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