Photo Courtesy of City Comptroller’s Office
Stringer’s review of anti-discrimination laws revealed that City and State agencies are not expressly prohibited from discriminating against companies owned by minorities, women, or LGBTQ individuals as they bid on contracts.
By Forum Staff
A review of anti-discrimination laws conducted by City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, City and State agencies are not expressly prohibited from discriminating against companies owned by minorities, women, or LGBTQ individuals as they bid on contracts.
In response, Stringer says he and City and State lawmakers are introducing new legislation to expand anti-discrimination protections to every business owner in New York.
Noting that the City’s diversity is “one of our greatest strengths”, Stringer says he’ll make sure every New Yorker is protected from discriminatory practices. New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. Current law forbids discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations, but says nothing about contracted work in the City or State.
The City has a $14 billion purchasing tab yearly, buying everything from paperclips to firetrucks, but reports show the City has failed to fully include Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) in the procurement process. A paltry $725 million – just 5.3 percent of total procurement spending – went to M/WBEs, in 2015, seriously hindering business owners’ ability to grow their companies, hire more New Yorkers, and drive the local economy.
The New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law are designed to protect minority, women, and LGBTQ New Yorkers from discriminatory business practices, but these laws do not apply to the government contract process. Specific findings include:
The New York State Human Rights Law section on unlawful discriminatory practices references employment advertisements and applications, but is silent on whether its protections extend to government contracting.
Similarly, the New York City Human Rights Law addresses “employment, public accommodations and housing and other real estate,” but does not explicitly mention City procurement.
Comptroller Stringer, State Senator Hoylman, Assemblymember Bichotte, Council Members Torres and Cornegy, and the City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus made public that they will introduce legislation to amend both the State and City Human Rights Laws. The amendments will include sections prohibiting discrimination in government procurement, expanding protections to minority, women, and LGBTQ-owned businesses that bid on City and State contracts.
“These laws leave open a door to discrimination that should have been closed years ago, and we must bring them into the 21st Century,” Comptroller Stringer said. “With City spending on M/WBEs stuck in low gear, we must send the message that New York is open for business with everyone. I thank this coalition for uniting around the cause of diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.”
The legislation promises to address those identified as underrepresented in the awarding of more than 50,000 annual contract issued by New York State. In dollars and cents that the equivalent of being left out of a share in $240 billion of State spending.
Stringer has been credited by those he’s collaborating with for discovering this loophole in New York’s Human Rights Law.
