Giving Disadvantaged Businesses Opportunities for Success Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 832 To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transpor- tation to strengthen and advance certain disadvantaged businesses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois (for himself and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Transportation to strengthen and advance cer- tain disadvantaged businesses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Giving Disadvantaged 4 Businesses Opportunities for Success Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 832 IH Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Congressional findings on the importance of disadvantaged businesses. Sec. 4. Definitions. Sec. 5. Severability. Sec. 6. Inflation adjustment to Department of Transportation net worth caps. Sec. 7. Update to Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Business En- terprise and ACDBE size standards. Sec. 8. Definition of assets under Department of Transportation personal net worth test. Sec. 9. Additional funding for Department of Transportation Minority Resource Center. Sec. 10. Improvements to Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Busi- ness Enterprise and ACDBE mentor-prote´ge´ programs. Sec. 11. Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and ACDBE certification universal recognition. Sec. 12. Incentives for excellence in Disadvantaged Business Enterprise pro- grams and ACDBE programs. Sec. 13. Reporting requirements and standards for waivers and exemptions. Sec. 14. Advisory committee on disadvantaged business enterprises and ACDBEs. Sec. 15. Definition of assets under the Small Business Act. SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS ON THE IMPORTANCE 1 OF DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES. 2 Congress finds the following: 3 (1) While significant progress has occurred due 4 to the establishment of the Disadvantaged Business 5 Enterprise program of the Department of Transpor- 6 tation under section 11101(e) of the Infrastructure 7 Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58), the 8 ACDBE program of the Department of Transpor- 9 tation under part 23 of title 49, Code of Federal 10 Regulations, and the Section 8(a) Business Develop- 11 ment Program of the Small Business Administration 12 (established under section 8(a) of the Small Busi- 13 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637)), discrimination and re- 14 lated barriers continue to pose significant obstacles 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 832 IH for minority- and women-owned businesses seeking 1 to do business in federally assisted transportation 2 markets across the United States and through pro- 3 curement contracts of Federal agencies. 4 (2) The continuing barriers described in para- 5 graph (1) merit the continuation of the Disadvan- 6 taged Business Enterprise program, the ACDBE 7 program, and the Section 8(a) Business Develop- 8 ment Program. 9 (3) Congress has received and reviewed testi- 10 mony and documentation of race and gender dis- 11 crimination from numerous sources, including con- 12 gressional hearings and roundtables, scientific re- 13 ports, reports issued by public and private agencies, 14 news stories, reports of discrimination by organiza- 15 tions and individuals, and discrimination lawsuits, 16 which show that race- and gender-neutral efforts 17 alone are insufficient to address the problem. 18 (4) Some examples of the sources described in 19 paragraph (3) include the following: 20 (A) The hearing of the Committee on 21 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 22 of Representatives held on September 23, 2020, 23 titled ‘‘Driving Equity: The U.S. Department of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 832 IH Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business En- 1 terprise Program’’. 2 (B) The hearing of the Subcommittee on 3 Contracting and Infrastructure of the Com- 4 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives held on March 2, 2022, titled ‘‘The 6 8(a) Program: Overview and Next Steps to Pro- 7 mote Small Business Success’’. 8 (C) The 2017 Disparity Study of the Illi- 9 nois Department of Transportation. 10 (D) The 2018 Disparity Study of the City 11 of Denver. 12 (5) The testimony and documentation described 13 in paragraphs (3) and (4) demonstrate that dis- 14 crimination across the United States poses a barrier 15 to full and fair participation of women business own- 16 ers and minority business owners in federally as- 17 sisted transportation markets and through procure- 18 ment contracts of Federal agencies and has im- 19 pacted the development of such businesses. 20 (6) The testimony and documentation described 21 in paragraphs (3) and (4) provide a strong basis 22 that there is a compelling need for the continuation 23 of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, 24 the ACDBE program, and the Section 8(a) Business 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 832 IH Development Program to address race and gender 1 discrimination in federally assisted transportation 2 markets and through procurement contracts of Fed- 3 eral agencies. 4 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 8 ness Administration. 9 (2) AIRPORT CONCESSION DISADVANTAGED 10 BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.—The terms ‘‘Airport Con- 11 cession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 12 (ACDBE)’’ and ‘‘ACDBE’’ have the meaning given 13 the term ‘‘Airport Concession Disadvantaged Busi- 14 ness Enterprise (ACDBE)’’ in part 23.3 of title 49, 15 Code of Federal Regulations. 16 (3) CONCERNED OPERATING ADMINISTRA- 17 TION.—The term ‘‘concerned operating administra- 18 tion’’ has the meaning given such term in part 26.5 19 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 20 (4) DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.— 21 The term ‘‘Disadvantaged Business Enterprise’’ has 22 the meaning given such term in part 26.5 of title 49, 23 Code of Federal Regulations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 832 IH (5) DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE 1 ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Disadvantaged 2 Business Enterprise Advisory Committee’’ means 3 the committee established in section 109 of this Act. 4 (6) PRIME CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘prime 5 contractor’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 6 tion 8701 of title 41, United States Code. 7 (7) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ has the 8 meaning given such term in parts 23.3 and 26.5 of 9 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 10 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Transportation. 12 (9) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN- 13 TER.—The term ‘‘small business development cen- 14 ter’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 15 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 16 (10) SMALL BUSINESS TRANSPORTATION RE- 17 SOURCE CENTER.—The term ‘‘small business trans- 18 portation resource center’’ means an entity funded 19 by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business 20 Utilization of the Department of Transportation 21 that provides an array of technical assistance to 22 build the capacity of small disadvantaged transpor- 23 tation businesses. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 832 IH SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 1 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 2 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend- 3 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti- 4 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 5 made by this Act, and the application of such remainder 6 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected. 7 SEC. 6. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT TO DEPARTMENT OF 8 TRANSPORTATION NET WORTH CAPS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 11 tation shall issue such regulations as are necessary to in- 12 crease the personal net worth cap contained in parts 23 13 and 26 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to account 14 for any inflation that has occurred since the net worth 15 cap under such parts was increased in the rule submitted 16 by the Department of Transportation issued on January 17 28, 2011, titled ‘‘Disadvantaged Business Enterprise: 18 Program Improvements’’ (76 Fed. Reg. 5083). 19 (b) PARAMETERS.—In carrying out subsection (a), 20 the Secretary shall— 21 (1) use the consumer price index published by 22 the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the inflation met- 23 ric; and 24 (2) account for any inflation that occurred in 25 the time period between the final effective date of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 832 IH the rule submitted by the Department of Transpor- 1 tation issued on January 28, 2011, titled ‘‘Dis- 2 advantaged Business Enterprise: Program Improve- 3 ments’’ (76 Fed. Reg. 5083) and the final effective 4 date of any rule issued pursuant to subsection (a). 5 (c) ADDITIONAL INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—The 6 Secretary of Transportation shall issue such regulations 7 as are necessary to update parts 23 and 26 of title 49, 8 United States Code, to establish an interval in accordance 9 with this section to make additional adjustments, after the 10 adjustment under subsection (a), to the net worth caps 11 for determining social and economic disadvantage for in- 12 flation. 13 (d) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall up- 15 date part 124 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, 16 with respect to the maximum net worth of an individual 17 claiming economic disadvantage to be equal to the net 18 worth cap established by the Secretary of Transportation 19 under section 6. 20 (e) ADJUSTMENT.— 21 (1) INTERVAL.—On the first January 1 that is 22 2 years after the date on which the Administrator 23 makes the update described in subsection (d), and 24 annually thereafter, the Administrator shall adjust 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 832 IH the maximum net worth described in subsection (d) 1 for inflation using a metric developed by the Admin- 2 istrator. 3 (2) METRIC.—In developing the metric de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1) to account for inflation, the 5 Administrator shall— 6 (A) consider using the Consumer Price 7 Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statis- 8 tics in such metric; 9 (B) solicit and consider the recommenda- 10 tions of the Secretary of Transportation; and 11 (C) solicit and consider public comment on 12 the appropriate metric to use and whether such 13 metric should take into account regional vari- 14 ations in maximum net worth. 15 (3) FINAL RULE ON INFLATION METRIC.—Not 16 later than 1 year after the Administrator solicits 17 public comment pursuant to paragraph (2), the Ad- 18 ministrator shall issue a final rule describing the 19 metric developed under this paragraph. 20 (f) INTERVAL.—The interval for adjusting the net 21 worth caps described in subsection (c) shall be the same 22 annual interval that the Administrator adjusts the net 23 worth caps for the Small Business Administration under 24 subsection (e). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 832 IH (g) FIRST ADDITIONAL ADJUSTMENT.—The first ad- 1 ditional inflation adjustment under subsection (c) shall 2 occur at the same time the Administrator carries out the 3 first adjustment under subsection (e). 4 (h) METRIC.—The Secretary shall use the same infla- 5 tion metric under subsection (c) that the Administrator 6 chooses under subsection (e). 7 SEC. 7. UPDATE TO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 8 DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE 9 AND ACDBE SIZE STANDARDS. 10 (a) HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT SMALL BUSINESS CON- 11 CERN DEFINITION.—Section 11101(e)(2)(A) of the Infra- 12 structure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58) 13 is amended to read as follows: 14 ‘‘(A) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 15 term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 16 given the term under section 3 of the Small 17 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’. 18 (b) AVIATION SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN DEFINI- 19 TION.—Section 47113(a)(1) of title 49, United States 20 Code, is amended to read as follows: 21 ‘‘(1) ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 22 given the term under section 3 of the Small Busi- 23 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632);’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H832.IH H832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 832 IH (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 2 or amend such rules as are necessary to carry out the 3 amendment made by this section. 4 SEC. 8. DEFINITION OF ASSETS UNDER DEPARTMENT OF 5 TRANSPORTATION PERSONAL NET WORTH 6 TEST. 7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 8 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue 9 such regulations as are necessary to update the assets ex- 10 cluded in the personal net worth test contained in parts 11 23.3 and 26.67 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 12 to match the assets excluded in the computation of net 13 worth under section 8(a)(6)(E) of the Small Business Act 14 (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(6)(E)), as amended by section 15. 15 SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR DEPARTMENT OF 16 TRANSPORTATION MINORITY RESOURCE 17 CENTER. 18 (a) IMPROVEMENT [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]