S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10802
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 1, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BLUMENCRANZ -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, the public authorities law, the
economic development law, the environmental conservation law and the
transportation law, in relation to adding ethno-religious groups as
minority group members
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "MWBE Equality Act".
§ 2. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 8 of section 310 of the
executive law, as added by chapter 261 of the laws of 1988, are amended
and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
(c) Native American or Alaskan native persons having origins in any of
the original peoples of North America[.];
(d) Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in any of the
Far East countries, South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent or the
Pacific Islands[.]; OR
(E) ETHNO-RELIGIOUS PERSONS UNIFIED BY A COMMON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC
BACKGROUND.
§ 3. Subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of
section 2879 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter 669 of
the laws of 2022, are amended and a new subparagraph (v) is added to
read as follows:
(iii) Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in any of the
Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent or the Pacific
Islands; [or]
(iv) Native American persons having origins in any of the original
peoples of North America[.]; OR
(V) ETHNO-RELIGIOUS PERSONS UNIFIED BY A COMMON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC
BACKGROUND.
§ 4. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 210 of the economic development
law, as amended by chapter 669 of the laws of 2022, are amended to read
as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08717-01-5
A. 10802 2
3. "Minority business enterprise" shall mean any business enterprise
which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the case of a
publicly owned business at least fifty-one per centum of the stock of
which is owned by, citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are
Black, Hispanic, Asian or American Indian, Pacific Islander [or], Alas-
kan Native, OR ETHNO-RELIGIOUS where such ownership interest is real,
substantial and continuing and where such persons have the authority to
independently control the day-to-day business decisions of the entity.
4. "Minority group member" shall mean a United States citizen or
permanent resident noncitizen who is and can demonstrate membership in
one of the following groups:
(a) Black persons having origins in any of the Black African racial
groups not of Hispanic origin;
(b) Hispanic persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban,
Central or South American descent of either Indian or Hispanic origin,
regardless of race;
(c) Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in the Far East,
Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent or the Pacific Islands; [or]
(d) American Indian or Alaskan Native persons having origins in any of
the original peoples of North America[.]; OR
(E) ETHNO-RELIGIOUS PERSONS UNIFIED BY A COMMON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC
BACKGROUND.
§ 5. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
section 52-0113 of the environmental conservation law, as amended by
chapter 669 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
In the performance of projects pursuant to this article minority and
women-owned business enterprises shall be given the opportunity for
meaningful participation. The department or the office shall establish
measures and procedures to secure meaningful participation and identify
those contracts and items of work for which minority and women-owned
business enterprises may best bid to actively and affirmatively promote
and assist their participation in the projects, so as to facilitate the
award of a fair share of contracts to such enterprises; provided, howev-
er, that nothing in this article shall be construed to limit the ability
of the department or office to assure that qualified minority and
women-owned business enterprises may participate in the program. For
purposes hereof, minority business enterprise shall mean any business
enterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the
case of a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the
stock of which is owned by citizens or permanent resident noncitizens
who are Black, Hispanic, Asian or American Indian, Pacific Islander
[or], Alaskan natives OR ETHNO-RELIGIOUS, and such ownership interest is
real, substantial and continuing and have the authority to independently
control the day to day business decisions of the entity for at least one
year; and women-owned business enterprise shall mean any business enter-
prise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the case of
a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the stock of
which is owned by citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are
women, and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing
and have the authority to independently control the day to day business
decisions of the entity for at least one year.
§ 6. The opening paragraph of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section
428 of the transportation law, as amended by chapter 669 of the laws of
2022, is amended to read as follows:
In the performance of transportation infrastructure renewal projects,
minority and women-owned business enterprises shall be given the oppor-
A. 10802 3
tunity for meaningful participation. The governor shall establish meas-
ures and procedures to secure meaningful participation and identify
those contracts and items of work for which minority and women-owned
business enterprises may best bid to actively and affirmatively promote
and assist their participation in the department's construction and
procurement program for transportation infrastructure renewal projects,
so as to facilitate the award of a fair share of contracts to such
enterprises; provided, however, that nothing in this article shall be
construed to limit the ability of the governor to assure that qualified
minority and women-owned business enterprises may participate in the
transportation infrastructure renewal program. For purposes hereof,
minority business enterprise shall mean any business enterprise which is
at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the case of a publicly
owned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the stock of which is
owned by citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are Black,
Hispanic, Asian [or], American Indian OR ETHNO-RELIGIOUS, and such
ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing; and women-owned
business enterprise shall mean any business enterprise which is at least
fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the case of a publicly owned busi-
ness, at least fifty-one per centum of the stock of which is owned by
citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are women, and such
ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
ments to section 310 of the executive law made by section two of this
act shall not affect the repeal of such sections and shall be deemed
repealed therewith.