Bill Text: NY J00964 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim May 9, 2023, as MWBE Advocacy Day in the State of New York

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-16 - ADOPTED [J00964 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J00964-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 964

BY: Senator SANDERS

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        May 9, 2023, as MWBE Advocacy Day in  the  State  of
        New York

  WHEREAS,   MWBE   (Minority  and  Women-Owned  Business  Enterprise)
Advocacy Day represents economic empowerment for  minorities  and  women
who own and operate a business; and

  WHEREAS,  Despite  decades  of  legislation and programs in both New
York City and New York State to  level  the  playing  field  for  MWBEs,
disparities continue to persist; and

  WHEREAS,  In  1988, the New York State Executive Law Enacted Article
15-A to ensure and promote fair and equal employment  and  minority  and
women-owned  business  participation  in  State  contracts  through  the
establishment  of  goals   for   minority   and   women-owned   business
participation; and

  WHEREAS, In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the landmark case
City  of  Richmond  v. J.A. Croson Co., and others that followed it, set
legal  boundaries  for  municipalities  intending  to  create   minority
business  enterprise programs, establishing that government must provide
evidence that a significant disparity exists between the utilization  of
minority  or  women-owned  companies  and  the  number of such companies
capable and willing to do the work, and the disparity  cannot  be  based
solely on population statistics; and

  WHEREAS,  In  2005,  New York City established the MWBE program, via
local law 129, to  promote  the  growth  and  success  of  minority  and
women-owned  businesses in the city, requiring that a certain percentage
of the city's contracts for goods, services, and construction be awarded
to  MWBE  firms,  and  aiming  to  address  historical   inequities   in
contracting  opportunities  for  MWBEs  and  promote economic growth and
diversity in the city; and

  WHEREAS, Other municipalities across New  York  State  launched  and
established   local   MWBE  programs,  including  Buffalo,  Schenectady,
Rochester, and other highly-populated cities  with  successful  results;
and

  WHEREAS,  In  2010,  the  State first commissioned a disparity study
that would later be used to establish statewide goals for minorities and
women in state contracts, and in 2016, another study was completed; both
studies  revealed  a  disparity  of   MWBEs,   showing   the   continued
disenfranchisement  of  MWBEs from billions of dollars of State and City
contracting and procurement opportunities, and revealing they are not at
an equal playing field with MWBE  utilization  being  disproportionately
lower  than  MWBE  availability  in  every category of state contracting
across racial groups; and

  WHEREAS,  The  Disparity  Studies  recommended  several  actions  to
address  these  disparities,  including  increasing  outreach  to MWBEs,
improving access to bonding and insurance, and  increasing  the  use  of

race-conscious   and  gender-conscious  measures  in  City  contracting,
eliminating the personal net worth and  increasing  Minority  and  Women
Contract workers; and

  WHEREAS,  In  2014,  New  York State launched the MWBE Certification
Campaign to encourage minority and women business owners to certify with
the State and take advantage of billions of dollars in State procurement
opportunities; the Governor pledged to increase MWBE certification by an
additional 2,000 businesses, a goal the State exceeded in January  2016;
as  a  result, the number of State-certified firms had more than doubled
in just five years; and

  WHEREAS,   The   City   has   committed   to   implementing    these
recommendations  to  improve  equity  and  opportunity for MWBEs in City
contracting, and the New York City Certification  Campaign  tripled  the
amount of certified MWBE firms since 2015, from 4,000 to 11,000; through
implementing  provisions  of  Local Law 174 of 2019 and Local Law 176 of
2019, various amendments were made to the process  by  which  MWBEs  are
certified; and

  WHEREAS,  On July 15, 2019, Executive Law Article 15-A was signed to
reauthorize the extension of programs which included MWBE  certification
being  extended from three to five years, and to facilitate and expedite
the processing of applications; and

  WHEREAS, In October  2022,  Mayor  Adams  announced  New  York  City
surpassed  its  10-year OneNYC goal to award $25 billion in contracts to
minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) by Fiscal Year (FY)
2025, three years ahead of schedule; and

  WHEREAS, In December 2022, legislation was advanced  to  break  more
economic  barriers including allowing businesses to use MWBE Development
and Lending Program Funds to  refinance  existing  debts,  doubling  the
award  contract  threshold  from  $500,000  to $1M for New York City, to
award contracts without a formal competitive process,  a  framework  and
funding to prevent fraud and abuse within the MWBE Program; and

  WHEREAS,  Additionally,  the Dormitory Authority of the State of New
York (DASNY) pilot mentorship  program  and  Department  of  Design  and
Construction  (DDC)  mentorship program allows businesses to be mentored
by  experienced  construction  management  firms  on   all   facets   of
procurement  and  contracting  processes  and  procedures;  at  the MTA,
changes of procurement statute revisions included the  increase  of  the
threshold  to  $1.5M  for  awards to MWBEs, and opportunities to include
Certified  Service-Disabled  Veteran-Owned  Small  Businesses  (SDVOBs),
expediting   the   overall   certification   process,   and   increasing
transparency by publishing waivers; and

  WHEREAS, To mark MWBE Advocacy Day,  City  and  State  agencies  and
MWBEs  and  MWBE  stakeholders  will  have  the  opportunity to meet and
network with each other to discuss ways to  increase  participation  and
improve  the  quality  of programs through access of State funding; now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize  Governor  Kathy  Hochul  to  proclaim  May 9, 2023, as MWBE
Advocacy Day in the State of New York; and be it further

  RESOLVED, That copies of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; and MWBEs across the State.