New York Senate Bill S08233

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 5/27/25
• Refer: 5/27/25
• Engrossed: 6/13/25
• Refer: 6/13/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Authorizes agencies to procure goods, services and construction from special veteran emerging business enterprises; defines special veteran emerging business enterprises.

Summary

S08233 amends the New York City Charter to expand the city’s procurement framework to include “special veteran emerging business enterprises” alongside minority- and women-owned business enterprises. Under the bill, city agencies may make purchases of goods, services, and construction up to the existing $1.5 million threshold without a formal competitive process from these certified businesses. The bill also requires the city to include special veteran emerging business enterprises in its annual procurement reporting to the governor and state legislature. Those reports must break out the number and dollar value of non-competitive procurements by business category and provide information on how many certified firms are capable of performing the specific type and scale of work involved in each procurement. The bill defines a special veteran emerging business enterprise as a certified service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprise that is also certified as an emerging business enterprise under the city charter. The act takes effect immediately.

Impact

The bill would amend section 311 of the New York City Charter by adding service-disabled veteran-owned, emerging businesses to the list of entities eligible for streamlined city procurement. It does not change the procurement threshold itself, but it broadens the pool of businesses that can receive contracts without a formal competitive process and adds reporting obligations tied to those procurements. The measure primarily affects New York City agencies, certified veteran-owned firms, and the city’s procurement oversight and reporting systems.

Sentiment

The available voting history indicates strong and unanimous support in the Senate, with the Rules Committee approving the bill 20-0 and the full Senate passing it 59-0. The bill was introduced at the request of the Department of Veterans’ Services, which suggests executive-branch support and a policy focus on expanding opportunities for veteran-owned businesses. No committee transcript is available, but the recorded votes reflect broad agreement rather than partisan division.

Contention

No notable opposition is reflected in the available record. Because the bill expands a set-aside-like procurement opportunity, any potential policy concerns would likely center on procurement competition, administrative implementation, or how many firms qualify as both service-disabled veteran-owned and emerging businesses. However, the vote totals and lack of recorded debate indicate that such issues did not surface as significant points of contention in the legislative process shown here.