What's happening
This bill creates a rebuttable presumption for renewing minority and women-owned business enterprise certifications if ownership and management are unchanged.
Why it matters
Streamlines the recertification process for minority and women-owned businesses. by allowing them to renew their certification more easily, as long as their ownership and management have not changed, reducing administrative burdens.
Decreases uncertainty for established MWBEs. (Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises) by creating a legal assumption that they still meet key eligibility requirements if their structure remains the same, making it harder for arbitrary denials to occur.
Encourages long-term stability and planning. for certified businesses, since the new rules make it more predictable to maintain certification status—an important factor for accessing government contracts and support programs.
Potentially increases government efficiency. by focusing review resources on businesses that have undergone significant changes, rather than on those with unchanged ownership and management, which could speed up the process for all applicants.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Streamline MWBE Recertification Process
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to rules
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8975
IN SENATE
September 14, 2020
Introduced by Sen. JORDAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to providing a rebuttable presumption relating to certification as a minority and women-owned business enterprise
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 314 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 96 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
5. (a) With the exception of provisional MWBE certification, as provided for in subdivision twenty-three of section three hundred ten of this article, all minority and women-owned business enterprise certifications shall be valid for a period of five years.
(b) Upon the expiration of a minority and women-owned business enterprise certification and the submission of a new application for further minority and women-owned business enterprise certification, if there is no change in the ownership of the enterprise and no material change in the nature or management of the enterprise from the time of approval of the previous minority and women-owned business enterprise certification, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the enterprise satisfies the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision fifteen of section three hundred ten of this article.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to applications submitted by a business enterprise for further minority and women-owned business enterprise certification submitted on and after such effective date; provided, however, that the amendments made to section 314 of the executive law made by section 1 of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17294-01-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to providing a rebuttable presumption relating to certification as a minority and women-owned business enterprise
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends section 314 of the executive law relating to the minor- ity and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) certification process. This Section provides that, if there is no change in ownership or mate- rial change in the nature or management of the MWBE, a rebuttable presumption exists for that MWBE's recertification.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
Justification
In 2017, Stefanie Wiley - the proprietor of Hoosick Valley Contractors applied for recertification for status as a minority and woman-owned business enterprise (MWBE), a designation which allows for greater representation within State contracting. Ms. Wiley purchased the busi- ness in 2014 and received an initial MWBE certification that year. After nearly three years following her application for recertification, Ms. Wiley was denied on the grounds that she did not possess "adequate mana- gerial experience or technical competence to operate the business enter- prise", despite having now run the business for six years and having been previously certified to do so.
Stefanie Wiley's case is just one of a large number of cases in which the application process for the MWBE program - especially with respect to recertification - is arbitrary and extremely flawed. This legislation would address some of the more serious concerns with the MWBE process by creating a rebuttable presumption for recertification. This rebuttable presumption will only apply in cases, like Ms. Wiley's, where there has been no material change to the business or change in ownership since the original certification. This legislation will help ensure the inclu- siveness of State contracting and will ensure that minority and women- owned businesses not be subjected to arbitrary State decision-making which could hurt their livelihood.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
On the first of July next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become law and is only applicable to certification applications filed on or after that date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.