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Assembly Resolution No. 1215
BY: M. of A. Bichotte Hermelyn
MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
April 28, 2026, 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 businesses; 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 United States 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-owned 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 both to address historical inequities in
contracting opportunities for MWBEs and to 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 that they are
not on an equal playing field with MWBE utilization which is
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 which
eliminates the personal net worth and increases 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 only 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
number of certified MWBE firms since 2015, from 4,000 to 11,000; through
implementing provisions of Local Law 174 of 2019 and Local Law 176 of
2019, various amendments to the process by which MWBEs are certified
were made; and
WHEREAS, On July 15, 2019, Executive Law, Article 15-A was signed to
reauthorize the extension of programs, which included MWBE
certification, from three to five years and to facilitate and expedite
the processing of applications; and
WHEREAS, In October 2022, Mayor Adams announced that New York City
surpassed its 10-year OneNYC goal to award $25 billion in contracts to
Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) by Fiscal Year (FY)
2025, three years ahead of schedule; and
WHEREAS, In December 2022, legislation was advanced to break more
economic barriers, including allowing businesses to use MWBE Development
and Lending Program Funds to refinance existing debts, doubling the
award contract threshold from $500,000 to $1 million for New York City,
and to award contracts without a formal competitive process, providing a
framework and funding to prevent fraud and abuse within the MWBE
program; and
WHEREAS, Additionally, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New
York (DASNY) pilot mentorship program and Department of Design and
Construction (DDC) mentorship program allow businesses to be mentored by
experienced construction management firms on all facets of procurement
and contracting processes and procedures; at the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA), changes of procurement statute revisions
included the increase of the threshold to $1.5 million for awards to
MWBEs and opportunities to include certified Service-Disabled
Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), expediting the overall
certification process and increasing transparency by publishing waivers;
and
WHEREAS, To mark MWBE Advocacy Day, City and State agencies, MWBEs,
and MWBE stakeholders will have the opportunity to meet and network with
one another to discuss ways to increase participation and improve the
quality of programs through access of State funding; now, therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim April 28, 2026, as MWBE
Advocacy Day in the State of New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York, and MWBEs across the State of New York.