NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A783
SPONSOR: Burdick TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend chapter 565 of the laws of 2022 amending the state
finance law relating to preferred source status for entities that
provide employment to certain persons, in relation to the effectiveness
thereof
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To make permanent changes to the state's preferred source program (PSP),
a pioneering effort to use government's buying power to provide employ-
ment opportunities for persons with disabilities. The PSP was created by
state statute in 1975 to encourage employment opportunities for persons
with disabilities. The PSP requires state agencies to give contracting
preferences for certain services and products to organizations that
employ the disabled and qualified veterans. PSP contracts must be cost
competitive and NYS OGS approves all pricing. In 2022, amendments were
made to the PSP statute to modernize the program's operations. This
represented the first significant updates in the PSP since the program's
inception in 1975. The modernization provisions eliminated outdated and
offensive references to persons with disabilities. Modifications also
were made to encourage more integrated work opportunities for persons
with disabilities, consistent with the State's move to become an employ-
ment first state and promote competitive integrated employment. The
term workshop was removed and the law reduces from 75 percent to 50
percent the ratio of a PSP contract that must be performed by people
with disabilities for those contracts performed by a Member Agency
employing 10 or more FTE's. These modifications are set to expire Octo-
ber 2025. The instant bill would make the modifications permanent.
This Bill is consistent with Executive Order 40 making New York an
Employment First state.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 makes permanent provisions of the state finance law enacted in
2022 that modernizes the State's Preferred Source Program.
Section 2 establishes the effective date,
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2022, the State enacted important modifications to the Preferred
Source Program. These changes, which sunset in 2025, update references
to persons with disabilities and promote integrated employment opportu-
nities for persons with disabilities. Since enactment of these changes,
employment hours for persons participating in the PSP have risen steadi-
ly. This bill will ensure that these modifications remain in place,
eliminating any ambiguity surrounding future operation of the PSP, and
ensuring meaningful employment opportunities for persons with disabili-
ties, a population that suffers from a 67% unemployment rate.
Thousands of individuals with disabilities have received the appropriate
vocational and rehabilitative training necessary to become first time
taxpayers. In 2021 Rockefeller Institute of Government estimated that
for every hour an individual with a disability is working on a preferred
source contract there is a $108' local economic impact.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately upon enactment
STATE OF NEW YORK
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783
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURDICK -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend chapter 565 of the laws of 2022 amending the state
finance law relating to preferred source status for entities that
provide employment to certain persons, in relation to the effective-
ness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 4 of chapter 565 of the laws of 2022 amending the
2 state finance law relating to preferred source status for entities that
3 provide employment to certain persons, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided [that section
5 one of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed three years after
6 such effective date; and provided further] that this act shall not apply
7 to any contracts or requests for proposals issued by government entities
8 before such date.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00040-01-5
