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AGENCY TESTIMONY
Reforms and initiatives to support nonprofits and improve contracting processes
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Lisa Flores outlines a series of reforms and initiatives implemented by Mayor Eric Adams' administration to streamline processes and support the nonprofit sector. These efforts aim to address payment delays, improve contracting efficiency, and enhance collaboration between the city and nonprofit partners.
- $741 million COLA investment for 80,000 human service workers, addressing pay equity
- Multiyear discretionary contracting reforms to enable earlier access to funds
- Joint task force recommendations implementation, including expanding access to interest-free loans
- Legislative changes, such as Local Law 85 of 2024, to reduce procurement timelines
- Creation of a nonprofit focus working group and appointment of chief nonprofit officers in agencies
- Launch of multi-phase backlog initiatives to address aged invoices and unregistered contracts
Lisa Flores
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The city boosted pay for 800 80,000 human service workers with 741,000,000 for a COLA investment, with the human service workforce overwhelmingly female at 6646% women of color.
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This investment represents a critical step towards delivering pay equity across race and gender for this workforce.
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The multiyear discretionary contracting reforms, these reforms enable providers to access funds nearly a year earlier than previously.
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The joint task force recommendations, which was a long list of recommendations, needed immensely and jointly by the mayor and the controller's office, and the progress includes expanding access to interest free loans to the RGF, adding allowance clauses to reduce amendments for routine changes, and simplifying document management.
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On the legislative front, the city advocated successfully, among many other things, for changes to the public hearings law, shaving approximately twenty days off the procurement process for most city contracts, something that had not been touched since the '80s.
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And some of the structural solutions for long term impact include the collaboration and accountability, which are at the heart of our efforts.
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In December, the administration launched nonprofit focus or facilitating on time contracting and urgent solutions, a working group chaired by deputy mayor Anna Almazar and in partnership with the mayor's office of nonprofit services.
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This group convenes senior city officials weekly to strategize, review data, and allocate resources effectively.
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Additionally, mayor Adams has finalized an executive order requiring all contracting oversight agencies to appoint a chief nonprofit officer.
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These officers will serve as the primary point of contact for nonprofits navigating city contracting and payment processes, ensuring a direct connection to agency leadership at City Hall.
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This executive order is a critical step in addressing the systemic misalignment that has long strained relationships between the city and its nonprofit partners.
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By implementing these policies, we are not only empowering nonprofits to advocate for their needs, but also fostering greater accountability within city government.
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The partnership between MOCs and the mayor's office of nonprofit services is central to these reforms.
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By working in lockstep, our offices are adopting a unified approach to address these challenges that are facing the sector.
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Our immediate goal is clear, cut through bureaucracy and ensure providers get paid on time.