Doesn't the State have to pay more whenever it contracts with a minority or woman owned and controlled firm because of the time it takes to find an WBE firm?

No. The state has not observed any disproportionate increase in contract costs that can be attributed solely to the time required to find a minority or woman-owned business. Further, OMWBE has made it relatively easy to find M / WBE {a.k.a. woman owned business } firms by maintaining a directory of certified businesses on-line and conducting research for agencies upon request. Except for those situations where an agency can simply call one firm or show evidence of limited informal competition, which is how a significant percentage of state contracts are awarded, it should not take any longer to find a minority or woman-owned business than it does to find any other firm.

Are state agencies and educational institutions required to have WBE goals on their contracts/procurements?

State agencies and educational institutions have never been "required" to set goals on all of their contracts/procurements. Goals to utilize WBE firms should be set on specific contracts/procurements only when it is determined that there are available certified firms to provide the product or service being sought. This was true prior to the passage of I-200 and has not changed since its passage. Prior to December 1998, some agencies and institutions set participation goals on the contracts/procurements they administered and rejected bids/proposals that did not reflect participation at or above those levels. This practice was discontinued with the passage of the initiative.