Bill > S1574

Introduced Session

This bill establishes in the State Department of the Treasury a Division of Minority and Women Business Development to be headed by a State Chief Disparity Officer. The division will administer and monitor policies, practices and programs that further this State's efforts to ensure equal opportunity for minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in purchasing and procurement by State departments and agencies, including independent State authorities. The State Chief Disparity Officer will monitor the State's public contracting process for the purpose of compiling information on the awarding of contracts to minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises, including the total value of all contracts and the percentage of the value of those contracts awarded to minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises. The officer will periodically report the officer's findings to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill directs each State department and agency, including independent State authorities, to designate a disparity officer to act as a liaison with the State Chief Disparity Officer. The Division of Minority and Women Business Development was originally established in the State Department of the Treasury pursuant to Executive Order No. 34 of 2006; this bill would codify the Division in State law, and clarify its structure and purpose. The bill also requires that provisions of existing law concerning State certification of minority-owned and women-owned businesses be fully implemented and prohibits self-certification by these businesses. In addition, the bill provides that contracts awarded through the State's small business set-aside program that are valued at less than the threshold for the entire cost of the erection construction, alteration, or repair by the State of any public buildings in this State established pursuant to subsection a. of R.S.52:32-2 will not be publicly advertised for bids but will, instead, be negotiated with small businesses using a competitive contracting process. Currently, the threshold set forth in R.S.52:32-2 is $2,000. The bill's provisions are necessary to ensure that the equality of opportunity guaranteed by federal and State law are available to minority-owned and women-owned businesses in this State. It is based, in part, on legislation recently enacted in New York State.

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Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*,  Linda Greenstein (D)*,  Shirley Turner (D), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee (on 02/05/2018)