NYC bill to offer more contracts to M/WBEs
Published on 08/27/2012
On August 22, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn introduced a bill that is intended to expand contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs).
Under Local Law 129, which was signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005, New York City established a goal for its agencies to award a certain percentage their contracts under $1 million to M/WBE firms.
The bill introduced by Speaker Quinn would remove the $1 million cap, thus making all city contracts eligible for M/WBE goals. The measure would also require that city agencies make quarterly reports to the mayor's office on their progress towards meeting the M/WBE goals.
It is estimated that the bill could increase M/WBEs share in city contracting from the current $433 million to just over $2 billion.
While Speaker Quinn has been critical of the Bloomberg Administration's commitment to increasing M/WBE participation in city contracting, the mayor's office has said it is working with speaker to advance the measure.
