Preference for Local Veteran Contractors Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 800 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to give preference to local contractors, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 4, 2021 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to give preference to local contractors, 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 ‘‘Preference for Local 4 Veteran Contractors Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PREFERENCE FOR LOCAL CONTRACTORS. 6 (a) LOCAL CONTRACTORS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 38, United 8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 9 513 the following new section: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 800 IH ‘‘§ 513A. Preference for local contractors 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall give 2 preference for awarding a covered contract to a local con- 3 tractor. 4 ‘‘(2) In giving preference for awarding a covered con- 5 tract to a local contractor under paragraph (1)— 6 ‘‘(A) if such local contractor is a small business 7 concern, such preference shall be given in accordance 8 with section 8127(h) of this title; and 9 ‘‘(B) if such local contractor is not a small 10 business concern, the local contractor shall be treat- 11 ed as a contractor covered under section 8127(h)(7). 12 ‘‘(b) NOTICE REQUIRED.—If the Secretary awards a 13 covered contract to a contractor that is not a local con- 14 tractor, the Secretary shall publish a public notice explain- 15 ing why a local contractor was not awarded the contract. 16 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered contract’ means a con- 18 tract for— 19 ‘‘(A) the construction or maintenance of a 20 facility of the Department; or 21 ‘‘(B) services provided to a particular facil- 22 ity or campus of the Department. 23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘local contractor’ means a prime 24 contractor that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 800 IH ‘‘(A) submits a bid or proposal for a cov- 1 ered contract; and 2 ‘‘(B) has its principal offices or location 3 within a 60-mile radius of the facility of the 4 Department covered by such contract.’’. 5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 6 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 7 by inserting after the item relating to section 513 8 the following new item: 9 ‘‘513A. Preference for local contractors.’’. (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 10 8106(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 11 by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘In ac- 12 cordance with section 513A of this title, the Sec- 13 retary’’. 14 (b) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.—Section 8127(h) 15 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 ‘‘(h) PRIORITY FOR CONTRACTING PREFERENCES.— 18 Preferences for awarding contracts to small business con- 19 cerns shall be applied in the following order of priority: 20 ‘‘(1) Contracts awarded pursuant to subsection 21 (b), (c), or (d) to small business concerns owned and 22 controlled by veterans with service-connected disabil- 23 ities that, for purposes of such a contract, are local 24 contractors under section 513A of this title. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 800 IH ‘‘(2) Contracts awarded pursuant to subsection 1 (b), (c), or (d) to small business concerns owned and 2 controlled by veterans with service-connected disabil- 3 ities that are not covered by paragraph (1). 4 ‘‘(3) Contracts awarded pursuant to subsection 5 (b), (c), or (d) to small business concerns owned and 6 controlled by veterans that— 7 ‘‘(A) are not covered by paragraphs (1) or 8 (2); and 9 ‘‘(B) for purposes of such a contract, are 10 local contractors under section 513A of this 11 title. 12 ‘‘(4) Contracts awarded pursuant to subsection 13 (b), (c), or (d) to small business concerns owned and 14 controlled by veterans that are not covered by para- 15 graphs (1), (2), or (3). 16 ‘‘(5) Contracts awarded pursuant to section 17 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) 18 or section 31 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657a) to a con- 19 tractor that, for purposes of such a contract, are 20 local contractors under section 513A of this title. 21 ‘‘(6) Contracts awarded pursuant to any other 22 small business contracting preference to a contractor 23 that, for purposes of such a contract, are local con- 24 tractors under section 513A of this title. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 800 IH ‘‘(7) Contracts awarded pursuant to section 1 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) 2 or section 31 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 657a) to a con- 3 tractor that is not covered by paragraph (5). 4 ‘‘(8) Contracts awarded pursuant to any other 5 small business contracting preference to a contractor 6 that is not covered by paragraph (6).’’. 7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 8 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of 9 the enactment of this Act. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:33 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS