NY State Senate Bill 2025-S267

Senate Bill S267

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to reciprocity between the state and New York city for businesses that are certified as minority and women-owned business enterprises

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Procurement And Contracts 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	referred to procurement and contracts

co-Sponsors

2025-S267 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Procurement And Contracts
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §314, Exec L

2025-S267 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes the director of the division of minority and women's business development and the mayor of the city of New York to enter into a memorandum of understanding to allow reciprocity between the state and New York City for businesses that are certified as minority and women-owned business enterprises.

2025-S267 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S267

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reciprocal minority
and women-owned business enterprise certification

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This act contains two sections. Section one of the act would amend
subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the Executive Law by adding a new
paragraph (d), which would provide that the Director of the Division of
Minority and Women's Business Development of the New York State Depart-
ment of Economic Development (better known as Empire State Development
("ESD")) and the Mayor of a city with a population greater than
1,000,000 persons may enter into a memorandum of understanding providing
for the reciprocal acceptance of minority and women-owned business
enterprise ("MWBE") certification between an MWBE program operated by
such city and the New York State MWBE program operated by ESD. This
paragraph would authorize this memorandum of understanding to include
one or more exemptions where such exemptions are in the best interest of
both programs. This paragraph would also clarify that this memorandum of

understanding would not restrict each program from amending their
respective certification standards and processes.

Section two of the act provides that the act would take effect 270 days
after it becomes law, provided that the amendments made by section one
of this act would not affect the expiration of article 15-A of the Exec-
utive Law pursuant to chapter 261 of the laws of 198 8, as amended, and
would expire and be deemed repealed along with article 15-A.

 
REASONS FOR SUPPORT:

The most recent disparity studies conducted by both the State of New
York ("State") and the City of New York ("City") demonstrate that
discrimination continues to affect MWBEs seeking to do business in the
markets where the City and the State conduct their procurements.  The
State and City are committed to addressing these disparities by operat-
ing MWBE programs that encourage the participation of MWBEs in their
respective procurements. The pool of firms that wish to participate in
procurements at both the City and State level is significant: more than
40% of firms certified by the State are also certified by the City.

Currently, the process to establish and to maintain certification at
both levels of government can be administratively burdensome for MWBEs.
These separate and duplicative processes lead to cost, confusion, and
lost opportunities for MWBEs and complicate the work of all entities
-including government agencies, prime vendors, and other private sector
entities- seeking to do business with MWBEs. By authorizing reciprocal
certification, this act would enable the establishment of a procedure
focused on coordination and partnership between the City and State, and
would eliminate the layered administrative burdens current imposed by
the existing regulatory landscape. This change would increase the
success of both the City's and the State's MWBE programs.

Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consider-
ation of this proposal by the Legislature.

2025-S267 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    267
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Procurement and Contracts
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation  to  reciprocal  minority
   and women-owned business enterprise certification

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2-a of section 314 of
 the executive law, as amended by chapter 96 of the laws of 2019, subpar-
 agraph (i) of paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 669  of  the  laws  of
 2022, are amended to read as follows:
   (a)  The director shall establish a procedure [enabling] REQUIRING the
 office to accept New York municipal corporation certification  verifica-
 tion for minority and women-owned business enterprise applicants in lieu
 of  requiring  the applicant to complete the state certification process
 SEPARATELY.  [The] ANY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION THAT CHOOSES  TO  USE  SUCH
 PROCEDURE SHALL FIRST ENTER INTO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REGARDING
 ACCEPTANCE OF SUCH MUNICIPAL CORPORATION CERTIFICATION VERIFICATION WITH
 THE  OFFICE,  AND THE director shall promulgate rules and regulations to
 set forth criteria for the acceptance of municipal  corporation  certif-
 ication.  [All  eligible municipal corporation certifications] AN APPLI-
 CANT CERTIFIED IN LIEU OF COMPLETING  THE  STATE  CERTIFICATION  PROCESS
 SEPARATELY  PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION shall [require] MEET THE DEFINITION
 OF A MINORITY-OWNED business [enterprises seeking certification to  meet
 the following standards:
   (i)  have  at  least fifty-one percent ownership by a minority] ENTER-
 PRISE or a women-owned BUSINESS  enterprise  [and  be  owned  by  United
 States citizens or permanent resident noncitizens;
   (ii)  be  an  enterprise  in which the minority and/or women-ownership
 interest is real, substantial and continuing;

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01154-01-5

 S. 267                              2

   (iii) be an enterprise in which the  minority  and/or  women-ownership
 has  and exercises the authority to control independently the day-to-day
 business decisions of the enterprise;
   (iv) be an enterprise authorized to do business in this state;
   (v)  be  subject to a physical site inspection to verify the fifty-one
 percent ownership requirement;
   (vi) be owned  by  an  individual  or  individuals,  whose  ownership,
 control and operation are relied upon for certification, with a personal
 net  worth  that  does not exceed fifteen million dollars and such other
 amount as the director shall set forth in regulations, as adjusted annu-
 ally for inflation according to the consumer price index; and
   (vii) be an enterprise that is a small business pursuant  to  subdivi-
 sion  twenty of] AS SET FORTH IN section three hundred ten of this arti-
 cle IN ORDER TO RECEIVE STATE CERTIFICATION.
   (b) The director shall work with all municipal corporations that  have
 a  municipal  minority  and  women-owned  business enterprise program to
 develop standards to accept state certification to  meet  the  municipal
 corporation  minority  and women-owned business enterprise certification
 standards WHENEVER A MUNICIPAL  CORPORATION  REQUESTS  ASSISTANCE.  UPON
 ENTERING INTO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF
 THIS SUBDIVISION, EACH MUNICIPAL CORPORATION THAT HAS A MUNICIPAL MINOR-
 ITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM SHALL ESTABLISH A PROCE-
 DURE REQUIRING SUCH MUNICIPALITY TO ACCEPT STATE CERTIFICATION VERIFICA-
 TION FOR MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE APPLICANTS IN LIEU
 OF  REQUIRING APPLICANTS TO APPLY TO EACH ENTITY SEPARATELY. THE MUNICI-
 PAL CORPORATION SHALL DEVELOP RULES AND REGULATIONS IN ORDER  TO  ACCEPT
 STATE CERTIFICATION IN SITUATIONS WHERE AN APPLICANT WHO IS CERTIFIED AS
 A  MINORITY  OR  WOMEN-OWNED  BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PURSUANT TO THE LAW OR
 RULE FOR SUCH MUNICIPAL CORPORATION'S CERTIFICATION PROGRAM  ALSO  MEETS
 THE  DEFINITION  OF  A MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OR WOMEN-OWNED
 BUSINESS ENTERPRISE AS SET FORTH IN SECTION THREE HUNDRED  TEN  OF  THIS
 ARTICLE.
   §  2.  This  act  shall  take effect on the two hundred seventieth day
 after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments
 to paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the exec-
 utive law made by section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of
 such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.

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Senate Bill S267

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Sponsored By

James Sanders Jr.