Authorizes the director of the division of minority and women's business development and the county executive of counties to enter into a memorandum of understanding to allow reciprocity between the state and such county for businesses that are certified as minority and women-owned business enterprises.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8353
SPONSOR: Stern TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reciprocal minority
and women-owned business enterprise certification
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Relates to reciprocity between the state and the counties for businesses
that are certified as minority and women-owned business enterprises.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the executive law is
amended by adding a new paragraph (d).
Section 2: set the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill increases access for minority and women owned businesses
(MWBEs) to receive their certification verification. The Division of
Minority and Women's Business Development (DMWBD) advocates for equality
of economic opportunities for MWBEs and for the elimination of barriers
to their participation in state contracts. This includes the preparation
and annual updating of a directory of certified MWBEs which allows for
contractors to see all MWBEs certifications, categories, and locations.
This allows contractors to more easily find MWBEs when searching for
business to contract out to. To become a certified MWBE and therefore be
found in this directory, a business must meet a certain set of guide-
lines and become verified.
There are different verification procedures for different levels of
government. Current law allows for reciprocity between municipal corpo-
rations and the state in terms of becoming a certified minority and
women-owned business. Current law also allows for reciprocity between
the federal certification process and the state certification process.
This bill would allow for a memorandum of understanding between the
DMWBD and county executives to permit counties to accept an applicant's
state certification verification in lieu of requiring applicants to
complete such county's process for certification, and for the state to
accept an applicant's county certification verification in lieu of
requiring applicants to complete such state's process for certification.
Allowing for this additional reciprocity on the county level will remove
unnecessary time and administrative barriers for businesses that are
already verified as MWBEs utilizing the same set of requirements.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day after it
shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments to
subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the executive law made by section one
of this act shall not affect the repeal of article 15-A of the executive
law pursuant to chapter 261 of the laws of 1988, as amended, and shall
be deemed repealed therewith.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8353
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
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:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the executive law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
3 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the director and any
4 county, acting through its county executive, may enter into a memorandum
5 of understanding setting forth a procedure through which: (i) such coun-
6 ty shall accept an applicant's state certification verification in lieu
7 of requiring such applicant to complete such county's process for
8 certification as a minority or women-owned business enterprise or meet
9 the certification standards of such county's minority and women-owned
10 business enterprise program; and (ii) the office shall accept an appli-
11 cant's county certification verification in lieu of requiring an appli-
12 cant to complete the process for certification as a minority or women-
13 owned business enterprise or meet the applicable certification standards
14 set forth in this article; provided, however, that such memorandum of
15 understanding may include one or more exceptions in circumstances where
16 the director and such county executive determine that such exceptions
17 would be in the best interests of both such county's program and the
18 program established pursuant to this article. Nothing in this paragraph
19 shall be construed to limit the director or such county from amending
20 their respective processes or standards for certifying minority and
21 women-owned business enterprises.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day
23 after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments
24 to subdivision 2-a of section 314 of the executive law made by section
25 one of this act shall not affect the repeal of article 15-A of the exec-
26 utive law pursuant to chapter 261 of the laws of 1988, as amended, and
27 shall be deemed repealed therewith.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11140-02-5
