A 7010: Expands eligibility for minority-owned business enterprise participation for state contracts to include businesses with employee stock ownership plans.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7010 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding eligibility for minority participation in state contracts The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 310 of the executive law, as 2 amended by chapter 22 of the laws of 2014, paragraph (e) as amended by 3 chapter 96 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 4 7. "Minority-owned business enterprise": 5 (a) shall mean a business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, 6 partnership, limited liability company or corporation that is: 7 [(a)] (i) at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority 8 group members; 9 [(b)] (ii) an enterprise in which such minority ownership is real, 10 substantial and continuing; 11 [(c)] (iii) an enterprise in which such minority ownership has and 12 exercises the authority to control independently the day-to-day business 13 decisions of the enterprise; 14 [(d)] (iv) an enterprise authorized to do business in this state and 15 independently owned and operated; 16 [(e)] (v) an enterprise owned by an individual or individuals, whose 17 ownership, control and operation are relied upon for certification, with 18 a personal net worth that does not exceed fifteen million dollars, and 19 such other amount as the director shall set forth in regulations, as 20 adjusted annually on the first of January for inflation according to the 21 consumer price index of the previous year; and 22 [(f)] (vi) an enterprise that is a small business pursuant to subdivi- 23 sion twenty of this section; and 24 (b) shall include a business enterprise: 25 (i) that has an employee stock ownership plan; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09485-01-5 
 A. 7010 2 1 (ii) where at least fifty-one percent of employees who participate in 2 such employee stock ownership plan are minority group members. 3 (c) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of this subdivision, "employee 4 stock ownership plan" shall mean an employee benefit plan that gives 5 employees ownership interest in a business in the form of shares of 6 stock. 7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 8 the amendments to subdivision 7 of section 310 of executive law made by 9 section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and 10 shall be deemed repealed therewith.