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Council Member Julie Won opens hearing on late payments to human service providers
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4 min
Council Member Julie Won opens a joint hearing of the Committee on Contracts and the Committee of Children and Youth to examine the city's persistent challenges in paying human service providers on time. She outlines the scope of the problem, its impact on providers and vulnerable New Yorkers, and introduces three new bills aimed at addressing the issue.
- Won cites data showing over $548 million owed to nonprofit organizations, with her district alone owing over $23 million to 20 local organizations.
- She criticizes the slow progress of reforms despite years of attention and promises from the mayoral administration.
- The hearing will consider three new bills: Intro 1247, Intro 1248, and Intro 1249, aimed at accelerating payments and improving oversight of the contracting process.
Julie Won
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This hearing is called to order.
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Good morning.
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I am council member Julie Wen, chairing the committee on contracts.
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Thank you for joining us today for today's joint hearing with the committee of children and youth with my co chair Althea Stevens to examine the city's persistent challenges paying its human service providers on time.
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I'd like to thank representatives from the administration, members of the public and my council colleagues especially council member speaker Adrian Adams for joining us today.
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Today's hearing is the latest in the series of committee on contracts has which has had over three years regarding late payment to city vendors.
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Today we focus on serious financial strain that delayed payments impose on our human service providers.
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Data released by the mayor's office of contract services and the controller's office makes it clear that agencies charged with delivering critical services including Department of Social Services, Department of Youth and Community Development, and the Department of Aging are too often failing to meet their basic obligation paying providers on time.
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These delays jeopardize the various services our communities depend on.
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Providers cannot sustain their operations, retain staff, or meet growing needs without timely and reliable funding.
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This is an urgent problem that demands immediate action.
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Late payments have serious consequences, not only for the providers themselves but for the New Yorkers who rely on their services, many of whom are amongst the most vulnerable in our city.
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Nonprofit organizations have been forced to take on debt, reduce programs, and lay off staff because they are forced to wait years to be paid for the work that they have already completed on behalf of the city.
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Citywide, over $548,000,000 is owed to nonprofit organizations according to Human Service Council as well as the controller's latest report last night says a billion dollars in invoices that have not been paid.
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In my district alone over $23,000,000 is owed to 20 local organizations.
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The current mayoral administration has pledged to improve the disastrously slow pace of payments for vendors for several years now since the launch of joint task force to get nonprofits paid in February 2022.
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We have been promised a series of reforms aimed at accelerating payments on easing the financial burden on vendors.
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MOCs and other agencies have testified multiple times about their efforts to meet the task force's goals and improve the city's procurement system.
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MOCs and other agencies have testified multiple times since then and on the work they have undertaken to achieve the joint task forces goals and improve the procurement system.
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The council passed three bills to accelerate payments and provide more transparency into delays but press reports and newly released city data show that progress have been sluggish.
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A recent controller's report on nonprofit payments aptly titled Caught in the Slow Lane captures the current state of reforms.
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So today we ask the administration to account for the continued delays and frustrations in fixing the procurement system and paying for human services despite several years of attention.
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We will also hear three bills in this hearing including intro number twelve forty seven sponsored by speaker Adams as well as council members Stevens, Brandon Lewis, and myself, which would advance 80% of a payment voucher to nonprofit vendors as soon as their contracts are registered.
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And Intro twelve forty eight sponsored by Speaker Adams as well as Councilmember Brannan, Stevens and myself which will create a new agency.
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The Department of Contract Services which will centralize and strengthen oversight in our city's contracting and procurement processes.
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And intro twelve forty nine sponsored by council member Brandon, Steven, Lewis, and myself would require agencies with a higher rate of delayed contract registrations to submit corrective action plans identifying causes
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thank the council staff for their work in this hearing.
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Contract committee staff senior legislative counsel Chris Santori as well as policy analyst Alex Gablon as well as my chief of staff Nick Guiloda my legislative budget director Nelly Martinez.
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Thanks to all those working behind the scenes including the sergeant of arms for working to make this hearing run smoothly.
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And I will now turn it over to our co chair council member Althea Stevens.
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Oh and actually we're gonna turn it to speaker Adrian Adams for an opening statement.
Althea Stevens
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of the delays and outlining solutions.
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Before I conclude I would like to