Stimulating Innovation through Procurement Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 246 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 15, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship AN ACT To amend the Small Business Act to require senior procure- ment executives, procurement center representatives, and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utiliza- tion to assist small business concerns participating in the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 246 RFS 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 ‘‘Stimulating Innovation 4 through Procurement Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECU- 6 TIVE. 7 Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 8 638(e)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 10 the end; 11 (2) in paragraph (13)(B), by striking the period 12 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(13) the term ‘senior procurement executive’ 16 means an official designated under section 1702(c) 17 of title 41, United States Code, as the senior pro- 18 curement executive of a Federal agency participating 19 in a SBIR or STTR program.’’. 20 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECU- 21 TIVES IN SBIR AND STTR. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the Small Busi- 23 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 246 RFS (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 1 end; 2 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 3 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraph: 6 ‘‘(10) to coordinate, where appropriate, with the 7 senior procurement executive of the relevant Federal 8 agency to assist small business concerns partici- 9 pating in a SBIR or STTR program with commer- 10 cializing research developed under such a program 11 before such small business concern is awarded a con- 12 tract from such Federal agency.’’. 13 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 9(b)(3) of 14 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)(3)) is amended 15 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end. 16 SEC. 4. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO PROCUREMENT 17 CENTER REPRESENTATIVES AND OTHER AC- 18 QUISITION PERSONNEL. 19 (a) SBIR AMENDMENT.—Section 9(j) of the Small 20 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)) is amended by adding 21 at the end the following new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(4) MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO PROCURE- 23 MENT CENTER REPRESENTATIVES.—Upon the en- 24 actment of this paragraph, the Administrator shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 246 RFS modify the policy directives issued pursuant to this 1 subsection to require procurement center representa- 2 tives (as described in section 15(l)) to assist small 3 business concerns participating in the SBIR pro- 4 gram with researching solicitations for the award of 5 a Federal contract (particularly with the Federal 6 agency that has a funding agreement with the con- 7 cern) and to provide technical assistance to such 8 concerns to submit a bid for an award of a Federal 9 contract. The procurement center representatives 10 shall coordinate with the appropriate senior procure- 11 ment executive and the appropriate Director of the 12 Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utiliza- 13 tion established pursuant to section 15(k) for the 14 agency letting the contract.’’. 15 (b) STTR AMENDMENT.—Section 9(p)(2) of the 16 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)) is amended— 17 (1) in subparagraph (E)(ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 18 at the end; 19 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 22 paragraph: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 246 RFS ‘‘(G) procedures to ensure that procure- 1 ment center representatives (as described in 2 section 15(l))— 3 ‘‘(i) assist small business concerns 4 participating in the STTR program with 5 researching applicable solicitations for the 6 award of a Federal contract (particularly 7 with the Federal agency that has a funding 8 agreement with the concern); 9 ‘‘(ii) provide technical assistance to 10 such concerns to submit a bid for an 11 award of a Federal contract; and 12 ‘‘(iii) coordinate with the appropriate 13 senior procurement executive and the ap- 14 propriate Director of the Office of Small 15 and Disadvantaged Business Utilization 16 established pursuant to section 15(k) for 17 the Federal agency letting the contract in 18 providing the assistance described in clause 19 (i).’’. 20 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO DUTIES OF PROCUREMENT CEN- 21 TER REPRESENTATIVES. 22 Section 15(l)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 23 U.S.C. 644(l)(2)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 246 RFS (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub- 3 paragraph (L); and 4 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol- 5 lowing new subparagraphs: 6 ‘‘(J) assist small business concerns partici- 7 pating in a SBIR or STTR program under sec- 8 tion 9 with researching applicable solicitations 9 for the award of a Federal contract to market 10 the research developed by such concern under 11 such SBIR or STTR program; 12 ‘‘(K) provide technical assistance to small 13 business concerns participating in a SBIR or 14 STTR program under section 9 to submit a bid 15 for an award of a Federal contract, including 16 coordination with the appropriate senior pro- 17 curement executive and the appropriate Direc- 18 tor of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 19 Business Utilization established pursuant to 20 subsection (k) for the agency letting the con- 21 tract; and’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 246 RFS SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO THE DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF 1 SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS UTI- 2 LIZATION FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES. 3 Section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 4 644(k)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 6 end; 7 (2) in paragraph (20), by striking the period at 8 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new 10 paragraphs: 11 ‘‘(21) shall assist small business concerns par- 12 ticipating in a SBIR or STTR program under sec- 13 tion 9 with researching applicable solicitations for 14 the award of a Federal contract (particularly with 15 the Federal agency that has a funding agreement, as 16 defined under section 9, with the concern) to market 17 the research developed by such concern under such 18 SBIR or STTR program; and 19 ‘‘(22) shall provide technical assistance to small 20 business concerns participating in a SBIR or STTR 21 program under section 9 to submit a bid for an 22 award of a Federal contract, including coordination 23 with procurement center representatives and the ap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 246 RFS propriate senior procurement executive for the agen- 1 cy letting the contract.’’. 2 Passed the House of Representatives January 14, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jan 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.RFS H246 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS