Relates to expanding opportunities for veteran-owned business enterprises

Section 2 - requires the commissioner of the office of general services to conduct a study to determine the percentage of contracts to be set aside under this act for veteran-owned businesses.

Section 3 - requires the commissioner to complete the study pursuant to section two no later than ninety days after this act shall become law.

Section 4 - states the effective date and expiration date.

Justification

New York State is home to more than 900,000 veterans. Of those, approximately 600,000 are combat veterans. Additionally, about 88,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan reside in New York State.

In 2014, New York passed legislation to reserve 6% of state contracts for service-disabled veterans. The pilot program created by this legislation has been very beneficial to a small percentage of the population of those who have served our state and our country. Now, it is time to expand business opportunities for all of our veteran-owned businesses, many of which employ their brethren veterans because of the excellent training and skills they have.

As of 2014, there were approximately 106,000 service-disabled veterans living in New York State. This represents 11.77% of the total population of veterans living in New York State. In other words, there is an additional 88.33% of the population of veterans in New York who are not eligible for additional business opportunities afforded under current law. This legislation would seek to rectify this situation by expanding the benefits of Article 17-B of the Executive Law, the Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act, to all of our State's veteran-owned businesses and therefore, as mentioned above, all of our veterans.

There can be no doubt that the existing Service-Disabled Veterans' Business Development program has had a successful start. According to its first Annual Report, December 31, 2015 by OGS, 155 businesses had been certified as members of the program. By that time, 29% of these were already engaged in contracting with New York State. By the end of 2015, 228 new applications had been submitted by business enterprises wishing to avail themselves of the program. Of these, 178 were certified with an average certification time of 39 days.

Contracts and purchase orders have been awarded across multiple economic sectors including commodities, construction, and financial services as well as other specialized services. According to the same OGS report, during the first two quarters of fiscal year 2015-16, the pilot program proved successful. Working with ten state agencies and authorities (and an additional nine not in the pilot program), 1,179 purchase orders and/or contracts were executed with forty-five service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. This led to awards totaling over $10 million. Additionally, OGS expected an additional $4.5 million dollar in set-asides to be awarded by the end of the fiscal year.

The figures speak for themselves. The pilot program is encouraging the growth of service-disabled veteran-owned businesses across New York State. It is time to make these benefits available to all of New York's veterans.

The most recent statistics published regarding veteran-owned businesses originate from 2007 census data in the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners. This study shows New York to be the fourth ranked state in the number of veteran-owned firms. Statewide, there were 127,156 firms representing 6.5% of the businesses in New York, with total sales/receipts of $70,786,543,000 or a 3.1% share of the state's sales/receipts. This sounds impressive, however, the most important statistic to consider in combination with the aforementioned is that New York ranked 49th among the states in the percentage share of all sales/receipts attributable to veteran-owned businesses. These statistics are compelling in showing the need for this legislation. Providing assistance with the procurement of state contracts is the catalyst needed to increase sales/receipts for the many New York veteran-owned businesses allowing them to be more prosperous.

Presently, Arkansas, Illinois, and Michigan reserve 5% of all state contracts for veteran owned businesses independent of whether they are service-disabled veteran businesses or not. Likewise, the federal government offers similar opportunities to all veterans through the Small Business Administration. It is time for New York State to recognize that all veteran-owned businesses should be entitled to the set-aside for the procurement of State contracts. This recognition will spur the growth and longevity of veteran-owned businesses while providing jobs for even more of our veterans. Helping New York State's Veterans to be prosperous is the least we can do for those who previously removed themselves from the business world and the job market to protect our freedoms.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

The participation of veteran-owned businesses in NYS public procurements of services, technology, public works and commodities will enhance economic development in New York State and facilitate the success of veteran-owned businesses and the welfare of our Veterans.

Effective date

Immediately.