* § 1265-b. Metropolitan transportation authority small business
mentoring program. 1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the
context requires otherwise: (a) "authority" means the metropolitan
transportation authority and its subsidiaries consisting of the Long
Island rail road company, Metro-North commuter railroad company,
metropolitan suburban bus authority, Staten Island rapid transit
operating authority, MTA bus, MTA capital construction company, and
first mutual transportation assurance company, and its affiliates
consisting of the New York City transit authority, triborough bridge and
tunnel authority, and Manhattan and Bronx surface transit operating
authority;

(b) "chairman" means the chairman of the authority and its
subsidiaries and affiliates;

(c) "small business" means a business in the construction trades which
(i) is independently owned and operated; (ii) has annual revenues not
exceeding a fiscal limitation of ten million dollars or such lesser
amount as established by the authority pursuant to these provisions; and
(iii) meets additional criteria as otherwise established by the chairman
in consultation with the members of the MTA small business mentoring
program advisory committee. The chair of the committee shall be the
chief diversity officer of the MTA. The authority shall establish a
detailed definition in general and specific to different segments of the
construction industry to the extent necessary to reflect differing
characteristics of such segments based on the criteria used by the
United States small business administration for loans to small
businesses as set forth in Sections 121.301 through 121.305, or for
awarding government procurements as set forth in Sections 121.401
through 121.413, of Subpart A of Part 121 of Chapter I of Title 13 of
the Code of Federal Regulations as amended, and such other criteria as
determined by the authority;

(d) "small business mentoring program" is a program established by the
authority pursuant to these provisions to provide small businesses
accepted into the program with the opportunity:

(i) for up to five years, to compete for and, where awarded, to
perform certain authority public work contracts to be designated by the
authority for inclusion in this program under this subparagraph, with
the assistance of an authority-provided mentor, which shall be a firm
competitively selected by the authority that has extensive construction
management and mentoring experience, with the mentor to provide the
small business with advice and assistance in competing for and managing
authority public work contracts; and

(ii) for a small business mentoring program participant which the
authority has determined has successfully completed the program under
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, for up to five additional years, (A)
additional opportunities to compete with other designated small
businesses in the program for certain public work contracts to be
designated for inclusion under this subparagraph and, where awarded, to
perform such authority public work contracts, with the further
assistance of an authority-provided mentor, which shall be a firm
competitively selected by the authority that has extensive construction
management and mentoring experience, with the mentor to provide the
small business with advice and technical assistance in competing for and
managing authority public work contracts, and (B) authority-provided
assistance, as determined by the authority, for such a small business to
obtain bonding for public work contracts that are competitively awarded
pursuant to provisions of law other than this section.

(e) "small business mentoring program contract" means a non-federally
funded, unless authorized by the applicable federal funding agency,
authority public work contract designated by the authority, in an
estimated amount of not more than one million five hundred thousand
dollars for contracts under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of this
subdivision and five million dollars for contracts under subparagraph
(ii) of paragraph (d) of this subdivision, for which bids or proposals
are to be invited and accepted only from businesses that are enrolled in
the small business mentoring program and have been selected by the
authority to compete for the contract.

2. Small business mentoring program. (a) Pursuant to these provisions,
the authority may establish a small business mentoring program. In
connection therewith, the authority may determine the criteria pursuant
to which a small business shall be eligible for and selected to
participate in the program under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph
(d) of subdivision one of this section, the number of participants to
participate in each such components of the program, the criteria for the
competitive selection of the firms that will provide small businesses
with mentoring services, the assignment of a mentor to a specific small
business in the small business mentoring program, and the funding for
the program.

(b) Under the small business mentoring program, the chairman or the
chairman's designee is authorized, notwithstanding any other provision
of law:

(i) to designate which eligible public work contracts shall be small
business mentoring program contracts under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of
paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section, respectively;

(ii) to establish standards for qualifying small business mentoring
program participants to compete for a small business mentoring program
contract, provided that no less than three qualified small businesses in
the program must submit responsive offers to perform the contract;

(iii) to determine when bids or proposals for a small business
mentoring program contract should be restricted to small business
mentoring program participants which, prior to the receipt of bids or
proposals, have been qualified by the authority for such competition;

(iv) to competitively select, designate and contract with one or more
experienced construction management firms that, under the general
supervision of the authority, will provide mentoring services to the
small businesses participating in the small business mentoring program,
and to assign such mentors one or more designated small businesses
participating in the program;

(v) for small business mentoring program contracts, except as set
forth herein, to waive requirements for the solicitation and award of a
public work contract pursuant to sections twelve hundred nine, twelve
hundred sixty-five-a and twenty-eight hundred seventy-nine of this
chapter and any other provision of law;

(vi) to assist only small business mentoring program participants that
have been awarded small business mentoring program contracts to obtain
any surety bond or contract of insurance required of them in connection
with such contract only notwithstanding any provision of section two
thousand five hundred four of the insurance law to the contrary; and

(vii) for small businesses that have been accepted into the small
business mentoring program under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (d) of
subdivision one of this section, in addition to the benefits of such
program and notwithstanding any other provision of law, to provide
technical assistance in obtaining bid, payment and performance bonding
for authority public work contracts that are not small business
mentoring program contracts, for which the small business is otherwise
qualified.

3. Withdrawal of designation of small business mentoring program
contracts. (a) If the total number of qualified small business mentoring
program participants that respond to a competition and are considered
capable of meeting the specifications and terms of the invitation to
compete is less than three, or if the chairman or the chairman's
designee determines that acceptance of the best offer will result in the
payment of an unreasonable price, the authority may reject all offers
and withdraw the designation of the contract as a small business
mentoring program contract.

(b) If the authority withdraws the designation of contract as a small
business mentoring program contract, the firms, if any, that made offers
shall be notified. Invitations to compete containing the same or
rewritten specifications and terms shall then be re-issued as a small
business mentoring program contract for one or more additional contract
period.

4. Construction manager mentors. A mentor shall provide services and
assistance to a small business as designated by the authority, which may
include the following: (a) provide business training in the skills
necessary to operate a successful construction business and to compete
for and perform a public work contract;

(b) provide technical assistance to the small business to assess the
outcome if the small business competes for but is not awarded a
contract;

(c) if the small business mentoring program contract is awarded to the
small business, provide guidance, advice and technical assistance to the
small business in the performance of the contract;

(d) provide other technical assistance to the small business to
facilitate learning, training and other issues which may arise.

5. The authority may delegate to the chairman or the chairman's
designee, the authority's responsibilities set forth herein.

6. The small business mentoring program contracts authorized by this
legislation shall, for the initial year of the program, be in an
aggregate amount of not less than ten million dollars, and shall not
exceed one hundred million dollars, with the maximum amount in future
years to be set by the chairman.

7. The authority shall submit a report, no later than September
thirtieth, two thousand twenty-five, and annually thereafter, to the
governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the
assembly regarding procurements made pursuant to this section. Such
report shall include a description of each procurement made pursuant to
this subdivision and the rationale for why the public work contract was
selected as a small business mentoring program contract, information
regarding the procurement process for each such mentoring program
contract and the name or names of the small businesses that fulfilled
the contract, the project identification number and a description for
each such project performed pursuant to the contract, the contractual
completion date for each contract, the status of each such project, the
contract price, including executed modifications, whether a project
received surety bond or insurance contract assistance pursuant to
subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section,
the total dollar value of monies paid to minority-owned and women-owned
business enterprises and disadvantaged business enterprises pursuant to
this section itemized by year and including the total dollar values for
the five years preceding the respective annual report's release date.
Such report shall additionally identify the authority-provided
construction manager mentors and describe their competitive selection
process, describe the technical assistance and advice provided by the
authority and the mentors to program participants, and describe the
business training provided by such mentor. For annual reports, any new
procurements and changes during the period covered by the report shall
be identified separately.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2029