On December 30, Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed the Material Price Escalation Bill (A.10109/S.8844). As the Women Builders Council (WBC) reports in its January 6, 2023 "News Alert," "without contract clauses or relief to account for major price increases, many MWBEs, and other contractors are left “holding the bag” with drastically increased material costs not accounted for in their contract(s), at no fault of their own.
The Bill would have provided equitable relief for contractors and subcontractors saddled with monetary losses in public contacts, from skyrocketing material prices due to extreme COVID market conditions. The Bill would’ve allowed certain pre-pandemic public works contracts in 2020-2021, bid on before March 2020, to be adjusted when material prices have escalated more than five percent." Read the Governor’s veto message. 🀰