On Thursday, Governor Hochul signed three bills into law that will assist Minority & Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) businesses in New York State.
The three bills will help prevent fraud and abuse within the MWBE state program, allow businesses to use MWBE development and lending funds to refinance existing debt, and allow New York City to award business contracts up to $1 million without a formal competitive process.
In a press release, the governor also announced New York State has surpassed its goal for MWBE utilization on New York State contracts with a current rate of 30.64 percent during the 2022 Fiscal Year, the highest MWBE utilization rate in the country for the second year in a row. Nearly $3 billion in state contracts were awarded to MWBE firms during the 2022 Fiscal Year, and nearly $24 billion in state contracts have been awarded to MWBEs since 2011, the release states.
On Thursday, The Business Council of New York State applauded Governor Hochul for signing the bills. Two of the three bills signed were part of The Business Council’s February legislative proposals that positively impacted New York’s MWBEs. The two bills address fraud with the MWBE program and allow businesses to use funds received from the minority- and women-owned business development and lending program to refinance existing debt.
“Our MWBE legislative package was meant to assist struggling businesses post-pandemic as a disproportionate number of shuttered businesses due to COVID were MWBE businesses,” said Heather Briccetti Mulligan, President & CEO of The Business Council.
“We thank Governor Hochul for signing these bills into law and providing additional relief for the businesses still struggling today,” added Mulligan.