N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 1265-b: Metropolitan transportation authority small business mentoring program

* § 1265-b. Metropolitan transportation authority small business

mentoring program. 1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the

context requires otherwise: (a) "authority" means the metropolitan

transportation authority and its subsidiaries consisting of the Long

Island rail road company, Metro-North commuter railroad company,

metropolitan suburban bus authority, Staten Island rapid transit

operating authority, MTA bus, MTA capital construction company, and

first mutual transportation assurance company, and its affiliates

consisting of the New York City transit authority, triborough bridge and

tunnel authority, and Manhattan and Bronx surface transit operating

authority;

(b) "chairman" means the chairman of the authority and its

subsidiaries and affiliates;

(c) "small business" means a business in the construction trades which

(i) is independently owned and operated; (ii) has annual revenues not

exceeding a fiscal limitation of ten million dollars or such lesser

amount as established by the authority pursuant to these provisions; and

(iii) meets additional criteria as otherwise established by the chairman

in consultation with the members of the MTA small business mentoring

program advisory committee. The chair of the committee shall be the

chief diversity officer of the MTA. The authority shall establish a

detailed definition in general and specific to different segments of the

construction industry to the extent necessary to reflect differing

characteristics of such segments based on the criteria used by the

United States small business administration for loans to small

businesses as set forth in Sections 121.301 through 121.305, or for

awarding government procurements as set forth in Sections 121.401

through 121.413, of Subpart A of Part 121 of Chapter I of Title 13 of

the Code of Federal Regulations as amended, and such other criteria as

determined by the authority;

(d) "small business mentoring program" is a program established by the

authority pursuant to these provisions to provide small businesses

accepted into the program with the opportunity:

(i) for up to five years, to compete for and, where awarded, to

perform certain authority public work contracts to be designated by the

authority for inclusion in this program under this subparagraph, with

the assistance of an authority-provided mentor, which shall be a firm

competitively selected by the authority that has extensive construction

management and mentoring experience, with the mentor to provide the

small business with advice and assistance in competing for and managing

authority public work contracts; and

(ii) for a small business mentoring program participant which the

authority has determined has successfully completed the program under

subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, for up to five additional years, (A)

additional opportunities to compete with other designated small

businesses in the program for certain public work contracts to be

designated for inclusion under this subparagraph and, where awarded, to

perform such authority public work contracts, with the further

assistance of an authority-provided mentor, which shall be a firm

competitively selected by the authority that has extensive construction

management and mentoring experience, with the mentor to provide the

small business with advice and technical assistance in competing for and

managing authority public work contracts, and (B) authority-provided

assistance, as determined by the authority, for such a small business to

obtain bonding for public work contracts that are competitively awarded

pursuant to provisions of law other than this section.

(e) "small business mentoring program contract" means a non-federally

funded, unless authorized by the applicable federal funding agency,

authority public work contract designated by the authority, in an

estimated amount of not more than one million five hundred thousand

dollars for contracts under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of this

subdivision and five million dollars for contracts under subparagraph

(ii) of paragraph (d) of this subdivision, for which bids or proposals

are to be invited and accepted only from businesses that are enrolled in

the small business mentoring program and have been selected by the

authority to compete for the contract.

2. Small business mentoring program. (a) Pursuant to these provisions,

the authority may establish a small business mentoring program. In

connection therewith, the authority may determine the criteria pursuant

to which a small business shall be eligible for and selected to

participate in the program under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph

(d) of subdivision one of this section, the number of participants to

participate in each such components of the program, the criteria for the

competitive selection of the firms that will provide small businesses

with mentoring services, the assignment of a mentor to a specific small

business in the small business mentoring program, and the funding for

the program.

(b) Under the small business mentoring program, the chairman or the

chairman's designee is authorized, notwithstanding any other provision

of law:

(i) to designate which eligible public work contracts shall be small

business mentoring program contracts under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of

paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section, respectively;

(ii) to establish standards for qualifying small business mentoring

program participants to compete for a small business mentoring program

contract, provided that no less than three qualified small businesses in

the program must submit responsive offers to perform the contract;

(iii) to determine when bids or proposals for a small business

mentoring program contract should be restricted to small business

mentoring program participants which, prior to the receipt of bids or

proposals, have been qualified by the authority for such competition;

(iv) to competitively select, designate and contract with one or more

experienced construction management firms that, under the general

supervision of the authority, will provide mentoring services to the

small businesses participating in the small business mentoring program,

and to assign such mentors one or more designated small businesses

participating in the program;

(v) for small business mentoring program contracts, except as set

forth herein, to waive requirements for the solicitation and award of a

public work contract pursuant to sections twelve hundred nine, twelve

hundred sixty-five-a and twenty-eight hundred seventy-nine of this

chapter and any other provision of law;

(vi) to assist only small business mentoring program participants that

have been awarded small business mentoring program contracts to obtain

any surety bond or contract of insurance required of them in connection

with such contract only notwithstanding any provision of section two

thousand five hundred four of the insurance law to the contrary; and

(vii) for small businesses that have been accepted into the small

business mentoring program under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (d) of

subdivision one of this section, in addition to the benefits of such

program and notwithstanding any other provision of law, to provide

technical assistance in obtaining bid, payment and performance bonding

for authority public work contracts that are not small business

mentoring program contracts, for which the small business is otherwise

qualified.

3. Withdrawal of designation of small business mentoring program

contracts. (a) If the total number of qualified small business mentoring

program participants that respond to a competition and are considered

capable of meeting the specifications and terms of the invitation to

compete is less than three, or if the chairman or the chairman's

designee determines that acceptance of the best offer will result in the

payment of an unreasonable price, the authority may reject all offers

and withdraw the designation of the contract as a small business

mentoring program contract.

(b) If the authority withdraws the designation of contract as a small

business mentoring program contract, the firms, if any, that made offers

shall be notified. Invitations to compete containing the same or

rewritten specifications and terms shall then be re-issued as a small

business mentoring program contract for one or more additional contract

period.

4. Construction manager mentors. A mentor shall provide services and

assistance to a small business as designated by the authority, which may

include the following: (a) provide business training in the skills

necessary to operate a successful construction business and to compete

for and perform a public work contract;

(b) provide technical assistance to the small business to assess the

outcome if the small business competes for but is not awarded a

contract;

(c) if the small business mentoring program contract is awarded to the

small business, provide guidance, advice and technical assistance to the

small business in the performance of the contract;

(d) provide other technical assistance to the small business to

facilitate learning, training and other issues which may arise.

5. The authority may delegate to the chairman or the chairman's

designee, the authority's responsibilities set forth herein.

6. The small business mentoring program contracts authorized by this

legislation shall, for the initial year of the program, be in an

aggregate amount of not less than ten million dollars, and shall not

exceed one hundred million dollars, with the maximum amount in future

years to be set by the chairman.

7. The authority shall submit a report, no later than September

thirtieth, two thousand twenty-five, and annually thereafter, to the

governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the

assembly regarding procurements made pursuant to this section. Such

report shall include a description of each procurement made pursuant to

this subdivision and the rationale for why the public work contract was

selected as a small business mentoring program contract, information

regarding the procurement process for each such mentoring program

contract and the name or names of the small businesses that fulfilled

the contract, the project identification number and a description for

each such project performed pursuant to the contract, the contractual

completion date for each contract, the status of each such project, the

contract price, including executed modifications, whether a project

received surety bond or insurance contract assistance pursuant to

subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section,

the total dollar value of monies paid to minority-owned and women-owned

business enterprises and disadvantaged business enterprises pursuant to

this section itemized by year and including the total dollar values for

the five years preceding the respective annual report's release date.

Such report shall additionally identify the authority-provided

construction manager mentors and describe their competitive selection

process, describe the technical assistance and advice provided by the

authority and the mentors to program participants, and describe the

business training provided by such mentor. For annual reports, any new

procurements and changes during the period covered by the report shall

be identified separately.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2029