Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 190 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 17, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship AN ACT To amend the Small Business Act to eliminate the inclusion of option years in the award price for sole source con- tracts, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 190 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Contracting 2 Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTING AUTHORITY FOR 4 CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 5 (a) QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS CON- 6 CERNS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 31(b)(2) of the 7 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)) is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 ‘‘(A) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—A con- 10 tracting officer may award sole source contracts 11 under this section to any qualified HUBZone 12 small business concern, if— 13 ‘‘(i) the qualified HUBZone small 14 business concern is determined to be a re- 15 sponsible contractor with respect to per- 16 formance of such contract opportunity; 17 ‘‘(ii) the contracting officer does not 18 have a reasonable expectation that two or 19 more qualified HUBZone small business 20 concerns will submit offers for the con- 21 tracting opportunity; 22 ‘‘(iii) the anticipated award price of 23 the contract will not exceed— 24 ‘‘(I) $7,000,000, in the case of a 25 contract opportunity assigned a stand- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 190 RFS ard industrial classification code for 1 manufacturing; or 2 ‘‘(II) $4,000,000, in the case of 3 all other contract opportunities; and 4 ‘‘(iv) in the estimation of the con- 5 tracting officer, the contract award can be 6 made at a fair and reasonable price.’’. 7 (b) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND CON- 8 TROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—Sub- 9 section (a) of section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 10 U.S.C. 657f) is amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(a) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—In accordance with 12 this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source 13 contract to any small business concern owned and con- 14 trolled by service-disabled veterans if— 15 ‘‘(1) such concern is determined to be a respon- 16 sible contractor with respect to performance of such 17 contract opportunity; 18 ‘‘(2) the contracting officer does not have a rea- 19 sonable expectation that two or more small business 20 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 21 veterans will submit offers for the contracting oppor- 22 tunity; 23 ‘‘(3) the anticipated award price of the contract 24 will not exceed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 190 RFS ‘‘(A) $7,000,000, in the case of a contract 1 opportunity assigned a standard industrial clas- 2 sification code for manufacturing; or 3 ‘‘(B) $4,000,000, in the case of any other 4 contract opportunity; 5 ‘‘(4) in the estimation of the contracting officer, 6 the contract award can be made at a fair and rea- 7 sonable price; 8 ‘‘(5) the contracting officer has notified the Ad- 9 ministration of the intent to make such award and 10 requested that the Administration determine the 11 concern’s eligibility for award; and 12 ‘‘(6) the Administration has determined that 13 such concern is eligible for award.’’. 14 (c) CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED 15 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—Section 8(m) of the 16 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)) is amended— 17 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol- 18 lows: 19 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON- 20 TRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 21 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON- 22 TROLLED BY WOMEN.—A contracting officer may 23 award a sole source contract under this subsection 24 to any small business concern owned and controlled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 190 RFS by women described in paragraph (2)(A) and cer- 1 tified under paragraph (2)(E) if— 2 ‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 3 responsible contractor with respect to perform- 4 ance of the contract opportunity; 5 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer does not have 6 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi- 7 nesses described in paragraph (2)(A) will sub- 8 mit offers; 9 ‘‘(C) the anticipated award price of the 10 contract will not exceed— 11 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con- 12 tract opportunity assigned a standard in- 13 dustrial classification code for manufac- 14 turing; or 15 ‘‘(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any 16 other contract opportunity; 17 ‘‘(D) in the estimation of the contracting 18 officer, the contract award can be made at a 19 fair and reasonable price; 20 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 21 the Administration of the intent to make such 22 award and requested that the Administration 23 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 190 RFS ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 1 that such concern is eligible for award.’’; and 2 (2) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol- 3 lows: 4 ‘‘(8) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON- 5 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED 6 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN IN SUBSTANTIALLY 7 UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.—A contracting 8 officer may award a sole source contract under this 9 subsection to any small business concern owned and 10 controlled by women certified under paragraph 11 (2)(E) that is in an industry in which small business 12 concerns owned and controlled by women are sub- 13 stantially underrepresented (as determined by the 14 Administrator under paragraph (3)) if— 15 ‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 16 responsible contractor with respect to perform- 17 ance of the contract opportunity; 18 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer does not have 19 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi- 20 nesses in an industry that has received a waiver 21 under paragraph (3) will submit offers; 22 ‘‘(C) the anticipated award price of the 23 contract will not exceed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 190 RFS ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con- 1 tract opportunity assigned a standard in- 2 dustrial classification code for manufac- 3 turing; or 4 ‘‘(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any 5 other contract opportunity; 6 ‘‘(D) in the estimation of the contracting 7 officer, the contract award can be made at a 8 fair and reasonable price; 9 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 10 the Administration of the intent to make such 11 award and requested that the Administration 12 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 13 and 14 ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 15 that such concern is eligible for award.’’. 16 (d) ELIMINATION OF THE INCLUSION OF OPTION 17 YEARS IN THE AWARD PRICE FOR CONTRACTS.—Section 18 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) is amended 19 by striking ‘‘(including options)’’ each place such term ap- 20 pears. 21 SEC. 3. SBA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM NOTIFICATION. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small 23 Business Administration shall notify the Committee on 24 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 190 RFS Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 1 the Senate when the Administrator has implemented each 2 of the following: 3 (1) A program to certify small business con- 4 cerns owned and controlled by women (as defined in 5 section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6 637(m))). 7 (2) A program to certify small business con- 8 cerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet- 9 erans (as defined in section 3(q)(1) of the Small 10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q))). 11 (b) ADDITIONAL NOTICE.—The Administrator of the 12 Small Business Administration shall submit a copy of a 13 notification required under subsection (a) to the Law Re- 14 vision Counsel of the House of Representatives so that the 15 Law Revision Counsel may execute the amendments re- 16 quired under section 4. 17 SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION UPON 18 IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATION PRO- 19 GRAMS. 20 Effective upon the notification described under sec- 21 tion 3, the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) 22 is amended— 23 (1) in section 8(m)— 24 (A) in paragraph (7)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 190 RFS (i) in subparagraph (C), by adding 1 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 2 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 3 the semicolon at the end and inserting a 4 period; and 5 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (E) 6 and (F); and 7 (B) in paragraph (8)— 8 (i) in subparagraph (C), by adding 9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 10 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 11 the semicolon at the end and inserting a 12 period; and 13 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (E) 14 and (F); and 15 (2) in section 36(a)— 16 (A) in paragraph (3), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 17 the end; 18 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi- 19 colon at the end and inserting a period; and 20 (C) by striking paragraphs (5) and (6). 21 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 22 (a) STUDY.—With respect to the procurement pro- 23 grams of the Small Business Administration for small 24 business concerns owned and controlled by women (as de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 190 RFS fined in section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 1 637(m))) and for small business concerns owned and con- 2 trolled by service-disabled veterans (as defined in section 3 3(q)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q))), 4 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con- 5 duct an evaluation of the policies and practices used by 6 the Administration and other Federal agencies to provide 7 assurances that contracting officers are properly classify- 8 ing sole source awards under those programs in the Fed- 9 eral Procurement Data System and that sole source con- 10 tracts awarded under those programs are being awarded 11 to eligible concerns. 12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 13 Small Business Administration implements the certifi- 14 cation programs described under section 3, the Comp- 15 troller General shall issue a report to the Committee on 16 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 17 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 18 the Senate containing the findings made in carrying out 19 the study required under subsection (a). 20 (c) SBA CONSIDERATION OF GAO REPORT.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 22 Small Business Administration shall review the re- 23 port issued under subsection (b) and take such ac- 24 tions as the Administrator may determine appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 190 RFS priate to address any concerns raised in such report 1 and any recommendations contained in such report. 2 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—After the review 3 described under paragraph (1), the Administrator 4 shall issue a report to Congress— 5 (A) stating that no additional actions were 6 necessary to address any concerns or rec- 7 ommendations contained in the report; or 8 (B) describing the actions taken by the 9 Administrator to resolve such concerns or im- 10 plement such recommendations. 11 Passed the House of Representatives January 16, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS