What's happening
This bill requires companies seeking New York state contracts over $100,000 to disclose the number and percentage of women executives and board members, along with their plans and goals for increasing women's participation.
Why it matters
Shines a spotlight on gender diversity at leadership levels. By mandating disclosure of the number and percentage of women in executive and board positions, the bill increases transparency about gender representation in companies doing significant business with New York State, potentially influencing public and investor perceptions.
Creates accountability for progress, not just promises. Companies must outline their aspirational goals for increasing women’s participation, as well as their intended actions to achieve those goals, making it harder to pay lip service to diversity without concrete plans.
Enables state-level analysis and oversight. Agencies are required to collect and report detailed data to the Department of Economic Development, which will aggregate and analyze the trends, allowing lawmakers and the public to track progress over time and identify areas where further action may be needed.
Could influence broader corporate behavior. The annual reporting and public scrutiny may incentivize companies—even those not seeking state contracts—to prioritize gender diversity in leadership, as the standards set by large state contracts can ripple across the private sector.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Disclose Female Leadership Numbers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to governmental operations
- Referred to governmental operations
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
910
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, LIFTON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to requiring that bidders and all others seeking state contracts disclose their percentage and number of female executives and board members
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that there is a growing body of evidence that companies perform better when their boards and executive leadership are strongly represented by women and that the state has a vested interest in ensuring that companies receiving public funds and contracts perform efficiently to maintain a high rate of success. Further, the legislature finds that it is in the state's vested interest to encourage equitable and diverse gender representation on corporate boards of companies receiving public funds and contracts. It is the intent of this act to require companies who wish to do business with the state to disclose the current percentage and number of women executive officers employed by the company, percentage and number of women on its corporate board, and the company's goals for the increased participation of women in executive positions and on corporate boards.
§ 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 148 to read as follows:
§ 148. Disclosure of women in executive positions and serving as board members by state contractors. 1. All contract solicitations including but not limited to, invitations for bids, requests for proposals, requests for applications and requests for qualifications for contracts, in excess of one hundred thousand dollars shall require that all offerors seeking state contracts shall disclose:
(a) the current percentage and number of women serving in executive positions and as board members for the offeror;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03279-01-9
A. 910 2
(b) the offeror's aspirational goals for the inclusion of women serving in executive positions and as board members; and
(c) the intended efforts by the offeror to achieve such aspirational goals.
2. Prior to May thirty-first of each year, each state agency in receipt of the information required pursuant to subdivision one of this section shall be responsible for providing the department of economic development with the compiled diversity data for every offeror seeking a state contract, whether or not such offeror was awarded the contract, for the prior calendar year. Such data shall include, but need not be limited to, data relating to general trends in the number of women serving in executive positions, serving on boards, statistics relating to winning and losing bidders, the method which agencies reflect diversity information in their scoring, and the manner in which such scoring is performed.
3. The department of economic development shall aggregate and analyze the data received by agencies pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section and present an annual report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leaders of the senate and the assembly, and the chairpersons of the senate finance and assembly ways and means committees.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.