Requires the director of the division of minority and women's business development in the department of economic development to give additional time for a business enterprise to cure defects in its application for certification or correct defects when a certification is revoked.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4134
SPONSOR: Stirpe TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to extending the time for
a business enterprise to cure defects in an application for certif-
ication and curing defects where a certification was revoked
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to establish a curing period for applica-
tions submitted by minority and women-owned businesses enterprises to
the statewide certification program.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would establish a curing period of sixty days for
minority or women-owned business enterprises that were denied or revoked
from the statewide certification program due to an omission or technical
error and make technical amendments.
Section 2 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to article
15-A of the executive law made by section one of this act shall not
affect the repeal of such article and shall be deemed repealed there-
with.
JUSTIFICATION:
Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) have served as
effective economic engines. Since 1988, the program has assisted state
agencies engaged in contracting activities to award a fair share of
state contracts to MWBEs, reviewed applications by businesses seek-
ing.certification as an MWBE, and promoted the business development of
MWBEs through education and outreach. The program has allowed thousands
of businesses, new and old, to flourish in the state for thirty-five
years. However, as has been reported extensively in the press, MWBEs
have habitually been subject to delays in certification, creating an
unknown amount of lost MWBE revenue. In fact, only recently, as of
November 15, 2023, has the State been able to clear a thousand-long
backlog of MWBE candidates. Even business enterprises that have previ-
ously qualified for MWBE certification have faced delays and sudden
revocation of status, complicating a process that should be easy and
seamless. Business owners need the ability to know the status of MWBE
applications and be able to remedy them, if needed, in a quick and effi-
cient manner. The recent un-logged backlog is a milestone to celebrate;
however, steps need to be taken to ensure that a backlog does not jam up
the program again. Enabling business enterprises to fix technical errors
or inadvertent errors is one step in ensuring the continued success of
the MWBE program and can prevent another backlog. This bill would estab-
lish a curing period of sixty days for minority or women-owned business
enterprises that were denied or revoked from the statewide certification
program due to an omission or technical error.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023 2024: amend and recommit to governmental operations / PASSED SENATE
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that the amend-
ments to article 15-A of the executive law made by section one of this
act shall not affect the repeal of such article and shall be deemed
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4134
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STIRPE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to extending the time for
a business enterprise to cure defects in an application for certif-
ication and curing defects where a certification was revoked
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 314 of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 96 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 3. Following application for certification pursuant to this section,
5 the director shall provide the applicant with written notice of the
6 status of the application, including notice of any outstanding deficien-
7 cies, within twenty-one days. Within forty-five days of submission of a
8 final completed application, the director shall provide the applicant
9 with written notice of a determination by the office approving or deny-
10 ing such certification and, in the event of a denial a statement setting
11 forth the reasons for such denial. Upon a determination denying or
12 revoking certification, the business enterprise for which certification
13 has been so denied or revoked shall be entitled to an extension of time
14 not to exceed sixty days for curing an omission or technical error, as
15 such terms are determined by the director, on the application for such
16 certification, which shall allow the business enterprise to immediately
17 re-apply to the statewide certification program upon remedy of such
18 application. Upon a determination denying or revoking certification
19 other than from an omission or technical error, the business enterprise
20 for which certification has been so denied or revoked shall, upon writ-
21 ten request made within [thirty] sixty days from receipt of notice of
22 such determination, be entitled to a hearing before an independent hear-
23 ing officer designated for such purpose by the director. In the event
24 that a request for a hearing is not made within such [thirty] sixty day
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05101-01-5
A. 4134 2
1 period, such determination shall be deemed to be final. The independent
2 hearing officer shall conduct a hearing and upon the conclusion of such
3 hearing, issue a written recommendation to the director to affirm,
4 reverse or modify such determination of the director. Such written
5 recommendation shall be issued to the parties. The director, within
6 thirty days, by order, must accept, reject or modify such recommendation
7 of the hearing officer and set forth in writing the reasons therefor.
8 The director shall serve a copy of such order and reasons therefor upon
9 the business enterprise by personal service or by certified mail return
10 receipt requested. The order of the director shall be subject to review
11 pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
13 the amendments to subdivision 3 of section 314 of the executive law made
14 by section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section
15 and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
