In my nearly 25 years working at the intersection of civil rights and economic opportunity, one thing has always remained constant: when women and people of color are shut out of the economy, the economy suffers. The disparities are not theoretical. In fact, they show up in who gets the contract, who hires the next ten workers, whose children inherit a business, and whose neighborhood gets reinvested in. Right now, those disparities are being exacerbated by regressive economic policies in the name of political expediency.<\/p>\n
New Yorkers know what happens when we prioritize growing the economy for everyone. In 2011, when I started overseeing the state\u2019s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise program, the utilization rate \u2013 the share of state contracting dollars going to certified MWBEs \u2013 was around 10 percent. Over the next several years, as I became Counsel to the Governor, we expanded utilization to nearly 30 percent. We did it by fixing a broken certification process, holding state agencies and authorities accountable, publishing the data and reinforcing the benefits of the program for all New Yorkers \u2013 and we got results.<\/p>\n
New York has now exceeded its 30 percent MWBE goal for five consecutive years, disbursing a record $3.3 billion<\/a> to certified firms in fiscal year 2024\u201325 alone, and nearly $15 billion since 2020. Roughly 9,700 certified MWBEs are now in the state\u2019s directory. And the legislature extended the program through 2028. This is the largest, most durable proof point in the country that an inclusive contracting program can be built, defended, and scaled.<\/p>\n The philosophy of economic opportunity for all, however, is now under coordinated assault at both state and federal levels. In December 2025, the Texas Comptroller unilaterally stripped more<\/a> than 15,000 businesses owned by women and people of color of their certification in the state\u2019s Historically Underutilized Business program, which has been in effect for more than 35 years. The Global Black Economic Forum, along with our co-counsel Petrillo, Klein + Boxer, filed a landmark lawsuit on behalf of six businesses and a trade organization arguing that the Comptroller, as an executive officer, has no legal authority to override a law passed by the Legislature. In April, a Texas District Court Judge agreed and temporarily blocked the Comptroller\u2019s regulations<\/a>. My team and I will be heading to trial in November. However, the case is a signal of what\u2019s to come if we don\u2019t fight these coordinated attacks \u2013 executive state officials will try to erase a generation of economic opportunity with the stroke of a pen.<\/p>\n At the federal level, the assault on economic opportunity is well underway. The Minority Business Development Agency \u2013 which in fiscal year 2024 alone helped Black businesses access $1.5 billion in capital and more than $2.6 billion in contracts, and helped create or retain 23,000 jobs \u2013 was effectively shuttered last year. Then, in March 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal contractors<\/a> to certify they will not engage in what the order calls \u201cracially discriminatory DEI activities,\u201d backed by the threat of contract cancellation, debarment, and False Claims Act liability. And in early May, members of Congress introduced legislation<\/a> that goes even further \u2013 essentially codifying the order and eliminating contracting goals and opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses.<\/p>\n