NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A5773
SPONSOR: Glick
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to equal pay disclosure
with respect to state contracts
 
PURPOSE OF BILL:
This bill will require state contractors to disclose data on employee
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill creates a new Article 15-D of the New York State
Executive Law, entitled "Equal Pay Disclosure With Respect To State
Contracts."
*Businesses and organizations bidding on state contracts will be
required, as a condition to winning a bid, to submit data on employee
compensation to the New York State Comptroller.
*The data will include compensation broken down by gender, race, ethnic-
ity, and any other information deemed necessary by the Comptroller. The
data will be reported in a format that protects individual worker priva-
cy and. businesses' proprietary information.
*The Comptroller will annually submit a report on the data collected to
the Governor, the Legislature, the Attorney General, and several state
agencies, any of which may use the data to ensure that existing wage
equity laws are being enforced.
*The annual reports and the data contained in them will be available for
public inspection.
Section 2 of the bill states that it shall take effect on January 1 of
the year after it is signed into law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
For decades, state and federal laws have prohibited wage discrimination
on the basis of gender, as well as race and ethnicity. In spite of
these laws, however, a gender wage gap has persisted. In 1963, women
made 59 cents for every dollar men made. In 2013 - 50 years after the
Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy - women
still made an average of just 78 cents for every dollar made by men,
with an even greater disparity existing between white male and African
American and Hispanic female employees. In over a half century of equal
pay being the law of the land, the gender wage gap hasn't even been
closed halfway.
Requiring prospective state contractors to disclose whether wage gaps
exist in their organizations will create transparency and accountability
in the state contracting process by allowing New Yorkers to see if their
tax dollars are going to companies with disparities in employee pay by
gender, race, or ethnicity. It will also create an incentive for
contractors who would like to do business with New York State to take
action internally to address the unconscious or conscious biases that
may result in a wage gap. In 2014, the White House announced that feder-
al contractors would have to report similar data to the federal govern-
ment.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.1482 of 2019-2020 (Hoylman): Advanced to Third Reading
A.7169 of 2019-2020 (Glick): Ordered to Third Reading Calendar
S.0270 of 2017-2018(Hoylman): Died in Finance
A.3265 of 2017-2018 (Glick): Advanced to Third Calendar Reading
S.6059-B of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Finance
A.8487 of 2015-2016 (Glick): Died in Governmental Operations
(2015)/Passed Assembly (2016)
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to all
contracts with the state entered into on or after such effective date.
This bill shall take effect sixty days after it becomes law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5773
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 24, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GLICK, SIMON, DE LA ROSA, ENGLEBRIGHT, ROZIC,
CRUZ, WILLIAMS, EPSTEIN, REYES, GOTTFRIED, JOYNER, RAMOS, FALL,
FERNANDEZ, WEPRIN, GRIFFIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to equal pay disclosure
with respect to state contracts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 15-D
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 15-D
4 EQUAL PAY DISCLOSURE WITH RESPECT TO STATE CONTRACTS
5 Section 328-b. Definitions.
6 328-c. Equal pay disclosure; reporting.
7 328-d. Prohibitions in contracts; violations.
8 § 328-b. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms
9 shall have the following meanings:
10 1. "Equal pay report" shall mean a summary of data, in a form consist-
11 ent with regulations promulgated by the comptroller pursuant to section
12 three hundred twenty-eight-c of this article, on employee compensation
13 by gender, race, ethnicity, specified job categories, and other relevant
14 data.
15 2. "Contracting agency" shall mean a state agency which is a party or
16 a proposed party to a state contract.
17 3. "Contractor" shall mean an individual, a business enterprise,
18 including a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation, a limited
19 liability company, a not-for-profit corporation, or any other party to a
20 state contract, as defined in subdivision eight of this section or a
21 bidder in conjunction with the award of a state contract or a proposed
22 party to a state contract. For the purposes of this article, "contrac-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03131-01-1
A. 5773 2
1 tor" shall not include a small business, as defined in subdivision nine
2 of this section.
3 4. "Large county" shall mean a county having a population in excess of
4 two hundred eighty-five thousand according to the most recent federal
5 decennial census, provided however, that a county having a population in
6 excess of two hundred eighty-five thousand according to the two thousand
7 ten federal decennial census shall continue to be a large county there-
8 after notwithstanding a later census showing a population of less than
9 two hundred eighty-five thousand for such county.
10 5. "Metropolitan area" shall mean a city with a population of one
11 million or more and a county having a population in excess of one
12 million and immediately contiguous to such city.
13 6. "State agency" shall mean:
14 (a)(i) any state department, or (ii) any division, board, commission
15 or bureau of any state department, or (iii) the state university of New
16 York and the city university of New York, including all their constitu-
17 ent units except community colleges and the independent institutions
18 operating statutory or contract colleges on behalf of the state, or (iv)
19 a board, a majority of whose members are appointed by the governor or
20 who serve by virtue of being state officers or employees as defined in
21 subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii) of this paragraph or paragraph (i) of
22 subdivision one of section seventy-three of the public officers law;
23 (b) a "state authority," as defined in subdivision one of section two
24 of the public authorities law, and the following:
25 Albany County Airport Authority;
26 Albany Port District Commission;
27 Alfred, Almond, Hornellsville Sewer Authority;
28 Battery Park City Authority;
29 Cayuga County Water and Sewer Authority;
30 (Nelson A. Rockefeller) Empire State Plaza Performing Arts;
31 Center Corporation;
32 Industrial Exhibit Authority;
33 Livingston County Water and Sewer Authority;
34 Long Island Power Authority;
35 Long Island Rail Road;
36 Long Island Market Authority;
37 Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority;
38 Metro-North Commuter Railroad;
39 Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority;
40 Metropolitan Transportation Authority;
41 Natural Heritage Trust;
42 New York City Transit Authority;
43 New York Convention Center Operating Corporation;
44 New York State Bridge Authority;
45 New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority;
46 New York State Thruway Authority;
47 Niagara Falls Public Water Authority;
48 Niagara Falls Water Board;
49 Port of Oswego Authority;
50 Power Authority of the State of New York;
51 Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation;
52 Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority;
53 State Insurance Fund;
54 Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority;
55 State University Construction Fund;
56 Syracuse Regional Airport Authority;
A. 5773 3
1 Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority;
2 Upper Mohawk Valley Regional Water Board;
3 Upper Mohawk Valley Regional Water Finance Authority;
4 Upper Mohawk Valley Memorial Auditorium Authority;
5 Urban Development Corporation and its subsidiary corporations; and
6 (c) the following entities, only to the extent of state contracts
7 entered into for its own account or for the benefit of a state agency as
8 defined in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision: Dormitory Authority
9 of the State of New York; Facilities Development Corporation; New York
10 State Energy Research and Development Authority; New York State Science
11 and Technology Foundation.
12 7. "State assisted housing project" shall mean, for such projects
13 which receive from the New York state housing finance agency, the
14 affordable housing corporation, the housing trust fund corporation or
15 the division of housing and community renewal a grant or loan for all or
16 part of the total project cost:
17 (a) a "permanent housing project for homeless families" or "project"
18 as defined in subdivision five of section sixty-four of the private
19 housing finance law;
20 (b) a "project" as defined in subdivision twelve of section one thou-
21 sand one hundred one of the private housing finance law provided said
22 project is located in a large county and consists of more than twelve
23 residential units at a single site;
24 (c) "affordable home ownership development programs" or "project" as
25 defined in subdivision eight of section one thousand one hundred eleven
26 of the private housing finance law provided said project is located in a
27 metropolitan area as defined in subdivision five of this section and
28 consists of more than twelve residential units at a single site;
29 (d) a "turnkey/enhanced rental project" or "project" as defined in
30 subdivision two of section one thousand one hundred six-a of the private
31 housing finance law;
32 (e) "infrastructure improvements" as defined in subdivision two of
33 section one thousand one hundred thirty-one of the private housing
34 finance law, to the extent that such "infrastructure improvements" are
35 applied for in connection with a state assisted housing project as
36 defined in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision and provided
37 further than the applicant for such infrastructure improvements and for
38 such state assisted housing project are identical.
39 8. "State contract" shall mean:
40 (a) a written agreement or purchase order instrument, providing for a
41 total expenditure in excess of fifty thousand dollars, which is subject
42 to approval by the comptroller pursuant to section one hundred twelve of
43 the state finance law, whereby: (i) a contracting agency, except the
44 office of general services is committed to expend or does expend funds
45 in return for labor, services including, but not limited to, legal,
46 financial and other professional services, supplies, equipment, materi-
47 als or any combination of the foregoing, to be performed for, or
48 rendered or furnished to the contracting agency; (ii) a contracting
49 agency, except the office of general services is committed to expend or
50 does expend funds for the acquisition, construction, demolition,
51 replacement, major repair or renovation of real property and improve-
52 ments thereon; or (iii) the owner of a state assisted housing project is
53 committed to expend or does expend funds for the acquisition,
54 construction, demolition, replacement, major repair or renovation of
55 real property and improvements thereon for such project.
A. 5773 4
1 (b) a written agreement or purchase order instrument, providing for a
2 total expenditure in excess of eighty-five thousand dollars, which is
3 subject to approval by the comptroller pursuant to section one hundred
4 twelve of the state finance law, whereby the office of general services
5 is committed to or does expend funds in return for labor, services
6 including, but not limited to, legal, financial and other professional
7 services, supplies, equipment, materials or any combination of the fore-
8 going, to be performed for, or rendered or furnished to the office of
9 general services.
10 9. "Small business" as used in this section, shall mean a business
11 independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employ-
12 ing not more than one hundred individuals.
13 § 328-c. Equal pay disclosure; reporting. 1. All contractors, as a
14 condition upon entering into a contract with the state, shall be
15 required to submit equal pay reports, in such form as the comptroller
16 may prescribe by regulation pursuant to subdivision three of this
17 section. Such reports shall include, but not be limited to, a summary of
18 the contractor's workforce pay averages, calculated by job category,
19 gender, race, and ethnicity, and the difference between pay averages in
20 each category, expressed as an absolute percentage.
21 2. The state comptroller shall submit a report to the governor, the
22 attorney general, the commissioner of the office of general services,
23 the commissioner of the department of labor, the commissioner of the
24 division of human rights, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary
25 president of the senate and the legislative fiscal committees summariz-
26 ing data related to the equal pay reports submitted by contractors. Such
27 report shall be made annually, on a fiscal year basis by the first of
28 July of the next succeeding year following enactment of this section.
29 (a) The information required by this subdivision shall be provided in
30 electronic format in such form as prescribed by the state comptroller
31 such that the data can be searched and sorted.
32 (b) All reports required under this subdivision shall be available for
33 public inspection and copying pursuant to section eighty-seven of the
34 public officers law provided that in disclosing such reports pursuant to
35 the public officers law, the state comptroller shall redact the name and
36 social security number of any individual employee that is included in
37 such document.
38 3. The state comptroller, in consultation with the commissioner of the
39 office of general services, shall promulgate regulations:
40 (a) regarding the content and the timely and proper filing of equal
41 pay reports by contractors; and
42 (b) setting forth measures and procedures to require all contracting
43 agencies, where practicable, feasible and appropriate, to assess the
44 equal pay practices of contractors submitting bids or proposals in
45 connection with the award of a state contract. Such rules and regu-
46 lations shall take into account: the nature of the labor, services,
47 supplies, equipment or materials being procured by the state agency; the
48 method of procurement required to be used by a state agency to award the
49 contract; the equal pay reports required to be submitted pursuant to
50 subdivision one of this section; and such other factors as the comp-
51 troller deems appropriate or necessary to promote the award of state
52 contracts to contractors having sound equal pay practices. Such assess-
53 ment shall not permit the automatic rejection of a bid or procurement
54 proposal based on the lack of adherence to equal pay practices. Each bid
55 or proposal shall be analyzed on an individual per bid or per proposal
56 basis with the contractor's equal pay practices considered as only a
A. 5773 5
1 part of a wider consideration of several factors when deciding to award
2 or decline to award a bid or proposal.
3 § 328-d. Prohibitions in contracts; violations. Every contracting
4 agency shall include a provision in its state contracts expressly
5 providing that any contractor who willfully and intentionally fails to
6 comply with the requirements of this article as set forth in such state
7 contract shall be liable to the contracting agency for liquidated or
8 other appropriate damages and shall provide for other appropriate reme-
9 dies on account of such breach.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
11 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to
12 all contracts with the state entered into on or after such effective
13 date.