NYC Pushing for State Law to Boost Local MWBEs

With the state legislative session in overtime, lawmakers and officials are making a last-minute effort to pass a bill aimed at increasing New York City’s contracting with businesses owned by women and minorities.

The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte of Brooklyn, passed in the Assembly on Friday. State Sen. James Sanders of Queens, who is sponsoring the Senate version, said he is now trying to get it through the upper house.

“It just passed the Assembly, and that puts more pressure for it to pass the Senate,” Sanders told City & State on Friday afternoon. “I am pushing hard on it. The bill, of course, speaks of an even playing ground and the ability for all to compete and not just the old boys’ network.”

The legislation was pitched last month by the de Blasio administration, and comes as the city has been lagging far behind the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in October that his administration had awarded 25 percent of state contracts to minority- and women-owned business enterprises, or MWBEs. New York City, by contrast, had only 4 percent of its contracts going to MWBEs.

The de Blasio administration proposed three amendments to the state law that governs the city's MWBE program. One proposal would give the city the same power as the state to award no-bid contracts of up to $200,000 instead of the current cap, which is set at $20,000 or $100,000 depending on the contract.

Another change would let the city use its own MWBE designation—not just the state’s—in awarding procurements on a “best value” basis. The city is also seeking to expand mentorship programs and the use of pre-qualification lists.

“The changes that we have been seeking essentially provide more opportunities to MWBEs and give us the same tools that the state currently does in order to be able to award more contracts to MWBEs,” said Maria Torres-Springer, commissioner of the city’s Department of Small Business Services, at City & State’s On Small Business event on Friday. “They run the gamut from increasing the threshold, for instance, for discretionary spending, to allowing us to more pre-qualifications and mentorship programs.”

The city’s lackluster performance on MWBEs has drawn criticism since de Blasio took office. In October, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer gave the city a “D” grade on its MWBE procurement. In April, The Black Institute, headed by de Blasio ally Bertha Lewis, issued a similar report entitled “Not Good Enough: The Myth of ‘Good Faith and Best Effort,’” that called on the city to set an ambitious 30 percent target and create a chief diversity officer position.

Torres-Springer, whose department administers the MWBE program, defended the city’s efforts, noting that such contracts went up 57 percent over the previous year. While the city does not have a percentage target like the state, the administration also committed to awarding $16 billion to MWBE firms over the next decade through its rebranded OneNYC initiative. A disparities study is underway as well, which will provide a baseline for future goals.

And Torres-Springer said she is optimistic that the state Senate would pass the city’s proposed legislation “to open more doors for the city’s minority and women businesses.”

“We are continuing to speak with the lawmakers in Albany and working with advocates across the city,” she said, “so we remain hopeful.”