(a) The department shall:
(1) set goals for the award of contracts to small and disadvantaged businesses and attempt to meet the goals;
(2) attempt to identify small and disadvantaged businesses that provide or have the potential to provide supplies, materials, equipment, or services to the department; and
(3) give small and disadvantaged businesses full access to the department’s contract bidding process and other contracting processes, inform the businesses about those processes, offer the businesses assistance concerning those processes, and identify barriers to the businesses’ participation in those processes.
(b) This section does not exempt the department from competitive bidding requirements imposed by other law.