Reforms Have Major Impact on DMWBE's!

As reported at Empire State News.net: look for significant positive impact for DMWBE contractors and for many design firms as well as a result of the  recently enacted Public Authorities Reform Act. From Empire State News.net Sweeping public authority reforms take effect

ALBANY – The Public Authorities Reform Act took effect Monday. The legislation, authored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, will bring reform and change to what Brodsky called New York’s “Soviet-style bureaucracies,” improving the lives of all New Yorkers and the financial future of the state. The Public Authorities Reform Act was signed into law in December 2009. The legislation is a fundamental, top to bottom reform of New York State’s 700+ public authorities, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Thruway Authority, New York Power Authority, and the Empire State Development Corporation. Members of public authority boards will now have an explicit fiduciary duty to the authority and their mission, no longer being beholden to those who appoint them. Board members’ primary responsibility will be to ensure that the authority runs in the best manner possible.  Building on the work done with the 2006 Public Authorities Accountability Act, this legislation also creates an independent Authorities Budget Office (ABO) with powers of investigation, referral, and oversight.  The ABO will take the lead in ensuring that state authorities abide by all elements of the new law.     Among other reforms the Public Authorities Reform Act requires state authorities to submit to the comptroller all no-bid contracts costing over $1 million, to follow MWBE requirements, and to create a whistleblower program to protect those who report authority misconduct.