New York K 554: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim May 21, 2025, as MWBE Advocacy Day in the State of New York

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K00554 Summary:

BILL NOK00554 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORBichotte Hermelyn

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSRAngelino, Buttenschon, Cruz, Dais, Gallagher, Giglio, Glick, Griffin, Hevesi, Hyndman, Kay, Kelles,
 Lunsford, Manktelow, McDonald, McMahon, Miller, Peoples-Stokes, Raga, Rajkumar, Rozic,
 Santabarbara, Seawright, Septimo, Smith, Solages, Tague, Vanel, Weprin, Woerner

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Go to top K00554 Actions:

BILL NOK00554 

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05/20/2025referred to calendar

05/21/2025adopted

Go to topK00554 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topK00554 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topK00554 Text:

Assembly Resolution No. 554

BY: M. of A. Bichotte Hermelyn

 MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
 May 21, 2025, 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 MWBEs 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
implem