NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1468

Senate Bill S1468

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Provides for the awarding of state contracts for professional services under the minority and women-owned business enterprise program

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to finance
Jan 15, 2019	referred to finance

2019-S1468 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§310, 311, 312-a, 313 & 313-a, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S6753
2013-2014: S118
2015-2016: S1115
2017-2018: S324

2019-S1468 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for the awarding of state contracts for professional services under the minority and women-owned business enterprise program.

2019-S1468 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1468

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to including the
provision of professional services in the minority and women-owned busi-
ness enterprise program

 
PURPOSE:

Provides for the awarding of state contracts for professional services
under the minority and women-owned business enterprise program.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the executive law to include a definition of profes-
sional services contract and adds a new subdivision 23 defining profes-
sional services.

Section 2 amends the executive law to include professional services in

the annual report on state MWBE contracts.

Section 3 requires professional services be considered in future dispar-
ity studies.

Section 4 establishes agency goals for MWBE professional services
expenditures.

Section 5 establishes that professional services be considered in rele-
vant future rules and regulations.

Section 6 establishes an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Historically, businesses owned by women and minorities have been
subjected to a pattern of systematic discrimination that has stunted
their growth and left fledgling enterprises without an'adequate network
of established support. While New York has taken great strides to remedy
this historic disparity, there is much work left to do.

In 1988, Article 15-A of the Executive Law created what is now the Divi-
sion of Minority and Women's Business Development (the "Division"). The
goal was to promote equality of economic opportunities for minority
and/or women owned business enterprises ("MWBEs") and to eliminate
barriers to their participation in state contracts.

While the Division's work helped foster a marked improvement, the State
was compelled to redouble its efforts in the wake of a 2006 study demon-
strating a still significant disparity in the awarding of public
contracts. By the 2009-2010 fiscal year, this renewed effort helped
bring New York's discretionary spending total on contracts with MWBEs to
more than $9 Billion.

However, this incredible progress has been largely achieved through
procurement and construction service contracts without sufficient atten-
tion to contracts for professional services such as architecture,
accounting, legal services and financial planning.  Diversification of
contracts for professional services, which are among the most well-com-
pensated, prestigious and stable fields, must be a cornerstone of a
truly effective MWBE Program.

In spite of widespread commitment to the advancement of diversity initi-
atives, both publicly and in the private sector, white women and employ-
ees of color continue to be under-represented in the professions. For
instance, less than 10% of all licensed attorneys in the U.S. are people
of color. One possible explanation for this under-representation is the
"pipeline theory," which posits that stagnation is partially attribut-
able to the limited availability of similarly situated role models and
dearth of access to professional development opportunities. This legis-
lation would help ensure that the state plays a vital role in the
encouragement of burgeoning women and minority owned professional
service enterprises.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2015-2016 - S1115A

2013-2014 - S.118

2011-12: S.6753

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law; provided that the amendments
to article 15-A of the executive law made by sections one, two, three,
four and five of this act, shall not affect the expiration of such arti-
cle and shall expire therewith. Provided, further, that, effective imme-
diately, any rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions
of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be
completed on or before such date.

2019-S1468 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1468
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 15, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to  amend  the  executive  law,  in  relation  to  including  the
   provision  of  professional  services  in the minority and women-owned
   business enterprise program

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  13  of  section 310 of the executive law, as
 amended by chapter 506 of the laws of 2009, is amended and a new  subdi-
 vision 24 is added to read as follows:
   13.  "State  contract" shall mean: (a) a written agreement or purchase
 order instrument, providing for a total expenditure in excess  of  twen-
 ty-five  thousand  dollars, whereby a contracting agency is committed to
 expend or does expend funds in return for labor, services including  but
 not  limited  to  legal,  financial  and  other  professional  services,
 supplies, equipment, materials or any combination of the  foregoing,  to
 be  performed  for,  or rendered or furnished to the contracting agency;
 (b) A WRITTEN AGREEMENT, PROVIDING FOR A TOTAL EXPENDITURE IN EXCESS  OF
 FIVE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS,  WHEREBY  A  CONTRACTING AGENCY IS COMMITTED TO
 EXPEND OR DOES EXPEND FUNDS IN RETURN FOR PROFESSIONAL  SERVICES  TO  BE
 PERFORMED FOR, OR RENDERED OR FURNISHED TO THE CONTRACTING AGENCY; (C) a
 written  agreement  in  excess of one hundred thousand dollars whereby a
 contracting agency is committed to expend or does expend funds  for  the
 acquisition,  construction,  demolition,  replacement,  major  repair or
 renovation of real property and improvements thereon; and  [(c)]  (D)  a
 written  agreement in excess of one hundred thousand dollars whereby the
 owner of a state assisted housing project is committed to expend or does
 expend funds for the acquisition, construction, demolition, replacement,
 major repair or renovation of real property and improvements thereon for
 such project.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05854-01-9

 S. 1468                             2
 
   24. "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES" SHALL MEAN THE PROVISION  OF  SERVICE  FOR
 WHICH  THE PROVIDER OF SUCH SERVICE IS REQUIRED TO HOLD A LICENSE ISSUED
 PURSUANT TO TITLE EIGHT OF THE EDUCATION LAW OR ARTICLE FIFTEEN  OF  THE
 JUDICIARY LAW.
   §  2.   Paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of subdivision 3 of section 311 of
 the executive law, paragraphs (d) and (e) as amended by  chapter  55  of
 the  laws  of 1992 and paragraph (f) as added by chapter 261 of the laws
 of 1988, are amended to read as follows:
   (d) to review  periodically  the  practices  and  procedures  of  each
 contracting  agency  with  respect  to compliance with the provisions of
 this article, and to require them to  file  periodic  reports  with  the
 division of minority and women's business development as to the level of
 minority  and  women-owned  business  enterprises  participation  in the
 awarding of agency contracts for goods [and], services AND  PROFESSIONAL
 SERVICES;
   (e)  on  January  first  of  each  year report to the governor and the
 chairpersons of the senate finance and assembly ways and  means  commit-
 tees  on  the  level  of  minority  and women-owned business enterprises
 participating in each agency's contracts for goods [and],  services  AND
 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES and on activities of the office and effort by each
 contracting  agency  to promote employment of minority group members and
 women, and to promote and increase participation by certified businesses
 with respect to state contracts and subcontracts so as to facilitate the
 award of a fair share of state contracts to such businesses.  The  comp-
 troller  shall  assist  the  division  in  collecting information on the
 participation of certified business for each  contracting  agency.  Such
 report  may  recommend  new  activities  and  programs to effectuate the
 purposes of this article;
   (f) to prepare and update periodically a directory of certified minor-
 ity and women-owned business enterprises which shall, wherever practica-
 ble,  be  divided  into  categories  of  labor,  services,  PROFESSIONAL
 SERVICES,  supplies,  equipment,  materials  and recognized construction
 trades and which shall indicate areas or locations of  the  state  where
 such enterprises are available to perform services;
   §  3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 312-a of the executive
 law, as amended by section 1 of part Q of chapter  58  of  the  laws  of
 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  to  determine  whether there is a disparity between the number of
 qualified minority and women-owned businesses ready, willing and able to
 perform state contracts for commodities, services, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
 and construction, and the number of such contractors actually engaged to
 perform such contracts, and to determine what changes, if any, should be
 made to state  policies  affecting  minority  and  women-owned  business
 enterprises; and
   §  4.  Paragraphs  (j)  and (k) of subdivision 1 of section 313 of the
 executive law, as added by chapter 175 of the laws of 2010, are  amended
 and two new paragraphs (l) and (m) are added to read as follows:
   (j)  overall  agency  total  dollar value of procurement for certified
 women-owned business  enterprises:  twelve  and  thirty-nine  hundredths
 percent; [and]
   (k)  overall  agency  total  dollar value of procurement for certified
 minority, women-owned business enterprises: twenty-eight and  ninety-two
 hundredths percent[.];
   (L) PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTER-
 PRISES: FIFTEEN PERCENT; AND

 S. 1468                             3

   (M)  PROFESSIONAL  SERVICES  FOR CERTIFIED WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTER-
 PRISES: FIFTEEN PERCENT.
   §  5.  Section  313-a of the executive law, as added by chapter 175 of
 the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   § 313-a. Diversity practices of state contractors. The director  shall
 promulgate  rules  and regulations setting forth measures and procedures
 to require all contracting agencies,  where  practicable,  feasible  and
 appropriate, to assess the diversity practices of contractors submitting
 bids or proposals in connection with the award of a state contract. Such
 rules  and regulations shall take into account: the nature of the labor,
 services, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, supplies, equipment or materials  being
 procured  by  the state agency; the method of procurement required to be
 used by a state agency to award the contract  and  minority  and  women-
 owned  business  utilization  plans required to be submitted pursuant to
 sections three hundred twelve and three hundred thirteen of  this  arti-
 cle;  and such other factors as the director deems appropriate or neces-
 sary to promote the award of state contracts to contractors having sound
 diversity practices. Such assessment shall not in  any  way  permit  the
 automatic  rejection  of a bid or procurement contract proposal based on
 lack of adherence to diversity practices. Each bid or proposal shall  be
 analyzed  on  an  individual  per  bid  or  per  proposal basis with the
 contractor's diversity practices considered as only a part  of  a  wider
 consideration  of  several  factors when deciding to award or decline to
 award a bid or proposal. The director shall develop the rules and  regu-
 lations  required  hereunder  only  after  consultation  with  the state
 procurement council established by section one hundred sixty-one of  the
 state finance law.
   §  6. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become  a  law;  provided  that  the
 amendments  to  article  15-A of the executive law made by sections one,
 two, three, four and five of this act, shall not affect  the  expiration
 of  such article and shall expire therewith.  Effective immediately, the
 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule  or  regulation  necessary
 for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.