New York Senate Bill S04155

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/3/25
• Engrossed: 6/12/25
• Refer: 6/13/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Requires contracting agencies to contact minority and women-owned business enterprises when such enterprise is listed on a utilization plan and when a contract is awarded; mandates that the prime contractor use such enterprise identified on the utilization plan, unless such enterprise cannot perform or is no longer state certified.

Summary

S04155 would strengthen New York’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) contracting rules by requiring contracting agencies to directly contact MWBEs listed on a utilization plan when a contract is awarded, and by requiring agencies to post utilization plans and any waivers online. The bill also requires agencies to notify prime contractors of deficiencies in a utilization plan within ten days and requires contractors to cure those deficiencies within seven days. It further bars contractors from changing the MWBEs named on the original utilization plan after submission, and it limits waivers by prohibiting automatic waivers while preserving the ability to seek partial or total waivers through existing procedures. The bill adds new post-award obligations intended to make MWBE participation more concrete and enforceable. After award, the prime contractor must execute subcontractor agreements and assign work to the listed MWBEs within 45 days, and must pay MWBEs within 20 days after receiving payment from the contracting agency. Failure to comply can lead to disqualification and re-award of the contract to the next lowest or otherwise eligible bidder. The bill also clarifies how certified MWBE prime contractors may count toward participation goals, including self-certification rules for minority-owned, women-owned, and dual-certified firms, and it applies these requirements to public contracts issued through requests for proposals even where discretionary award authority may otherwise exist. The bill’s impact on state law would be to tighten and operationalize Executive Law section 313 governing MWBE participation in state contracting. It would impose new notice, timing, posting, payment, and enforcement requirements on contracting agencies and prime contractors, and it would make listed MWBEs more binding in the contracting process unless they are unable to perform or lose certification. The affected parties are state and local contracting agencies, prime contractors, and certified minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises that participate in public procurement. The general sentiment reflected in the available voting history appears strongly favorable. The bill passed the Senate Procurement and Contracts Committee unanimously, 6-0, and later passed the Senate floor by a wide margin, 58-1. That voting pattern suggests broad support for strengthening MWBE participation and enforcement in state contracting. The main points of contention are likely to center on the bill’s rigidity and enforcement mechanisms. Prime contractors may object to the requirement that they use the specific MWBEs named in the utilization plan, the prohibition on changing those firms after submission, the short cure periods, and the automatic disqualification and re-award consequences for noncompliance. Contracting agencies may also view the bill as adding administrative burdens, while supporters are likely to argue that the bill is necessary to prevent token participation and ensure that MWBE commitments in utilization plans are actually carried out.

Impact

The bill amends Executive Law section 313 to expand and harden New York’s MWBE procurement framework. It requires agencies to contact listed MWBEs at award, post utilization plans and waivers, impose fixed deadlines for deficiency notices and cures, and enforce post-award subcontracting and payment obligations with disqualification remedies. It also clarifies self-performance rules for certified MWBE prime contractors and extends application to public contracts awarded through RFP processes.

Sentiment

Available voting history indicates strong support for the bill. It advanced out of the Senate Procurement and Contracts Committee unanimously and passed the Senate floor overwhelmingly, with only one dissenting vote. No committee transcript was provided, but the votes suggest the measure was viewed as a pro-MWBE enforcement bill with broad bipartisan or near-bipartisan acceptance.

Contention

The likely controversy is over how prescriptive the bill is. Critics may argue that requiring prime contractors to use the specific MWBEs listed in a utilization plan, forbidding changes after submission, and imposing short deadlines and automatic disqualification could reduce flexibility, increase procurement risk, and create administrative burdens. Supporters likely favor these provisions because they make MWBE commitments enforceable and reduce the possibility that listed firms are omitted after award or used only nominally.