Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo proposed furthering legislation to help minority- and women-owned businesses secure more contracts at the local level in his State of the State speech earlier this month.
Cuomo”™s proposal would require that all municipalities receiving state funds for projects ensure that at least 30 percent of local contracts ”“ including cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts ”“ are paid out to state-registered minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs).
In 2011, Cuomo set a goal that 20 percent of contracts would be assigned to MWBEs for all state agencies and authorities. Three years later he increased that to 30 percent and now, in 2016, the minimum required contracts for minority- and women-owned businesses are extended to municipal governments.
Robin L. Douglas, president, CEO and founder of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Westchester and Rockland Counties, said the legislation Cuomo has proposed doesn”™t pose any drawbacks.
“When you have minority and women businesses contributing and employing people you get people off the public dole,” Douglas said. “It can only be a good thing as far as I”™m concerned.”
White Plains Mayor Thomas M. Roach who is also president of the Westchester Municipal Officers Association did not return requests for comment.
In a release announcing the proposal, Cuomo”™s office said the amount of state money going to municipalities amounts to about $65 billion annually.
“Many local governments do not even have their own MWBE requirement or if they do, their goal is anemic at best. This must end now,” he said during his State of the State speech Jan. 13. “I propose that our MWBE goals also apply to local government contracts funded by state dollars. This could triple our New York opportunity for minority- and women-owned business and it will lead the nation once again.”
Douglas said construction is likely an industry that would be most affected by this legislation and that residual economic effects would be felt by lawyers representing those businesses and advertising firms hired to promote the new potential new contract requirements.
Since 2011, more than $6.3 billion in state contracts have been awarded to women- and minority-owned businesses and more than 4,300 MWBE businesses have become certified by the state.
