QUESTION
Council Member Brooks Powers Probes into Expanding MWBE Goals to Human Service Contracts
3:06:10
·
110 sec
Council Member Brooks Powers inquires about steps to extend Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) goals to human service contracts during a joint committee hearing. Comptroller Brad Lander explores potential legal adjustments and the extension of local laws to apply MWBE goals to both for-profit and non-profit procurement, emphasizing the promising prospects of such expansions in enhancing MWBE participation in city procurement.
Speaker 1
3:06:10
And on a more micro level, I'm curious what steps do you recommend the city to take to increase MWE Human Service Contracts that you mentioned.
3:06:21
We heard there are outreach efforts, but have you found that are roadblocks to increasing these numbers?
Speaker 17
3:06:29
Well, first, I would say legally.
3:06:31
Like, I haven't looked at the legal question.
3:06:33
Could you adjust the local law to apply it to human service contractors.
3:06:37
That's a but I I don't conceptually know why not.
3:06:42
Obviously, if a business itself is a nonprofit, then it doesn't have owners and it can't itself be an MWA.
3:06:49
But the subcontracting required first, if if human service agencies are doing procurement from for profit businesses, witnesses.
3:06:58
So emergency contracts are exempted, and it's useful to hear them say they have a meeting in which they talk about them.
3:07:05
But I don't I mean, they don't need to be exempted.
3:07:09
And that so any human service contracts that are going to for profit businesses could have the rules applied, and even those to nonprofits could have their subcontracting subject to the 30% goal.
3:07:23
So I think there may be an opportunity either subsequent to the disparity study or with legislation to expand the local not only Kroger's currently a quarter of city procurement and if it if it covered more than the the goals would apply, then, of course, there would be work to help agencies oversee and enforce, none that would be a new thing for nonprofits to have their subcontract acting, you know, held to MWD goals, and one would wanna help them achieve that work.
3:07:53
So there would be a lot to do, but I think it's a very promising area.
Speaker 1
3:07:57
And last two questions.
