Small Business Payment for Performance Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2853 To amend the Small Business Act to provide interim partial payment to small business contractors that request an equitable adjustment due to a change in the terms of a construction contract, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Ms. MCSALLY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To amend the Small Business Act to provide interim partial payment to small business contractors that request an equitable adjustment due to a change in the terms of a construction contract, 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 ‘‘Small Business Pay- 4 ment for Performance Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2853 IS SEC. 2. EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENTS TO CONSTRUCTION 1 CONTRACTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Act (15 3 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 4 15 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 15A. EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENTS TO CONSTRUCTION 6 CONTRACTS. 7 ‘‘(a) REQUEST FOR AN EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A small business concern 9 performing a construction contract that was award- 10 ed by an agency may submit a request for an equi- 11 table adjustment to the contracting officer of the 12 agency if the contracting officer directs a change in 13 the terms of the contract performance without the 14 agreement of the small business concern. 15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A request submitted 16 under paragraph (1) shall— 17 ‘‘(A) be timely made pursuant to the terms 18 of the contract; and 19 ‘‘(B) specify the estimated amount re- 20 quired to cover additional costs resulting from 21 the change in the terms of the contract per- 22 formance. 23 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT.—Upon receipt of a request for equi- 24 table adjustment under subsection (a), the agency shall 25 provide to the small business concern an interim partial 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2853 IS payment in an amount that is not less than 50 percent 1 of the estimated amount under subsection (a)(2)(B). 2 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—Any interim partial payment 3 made under this section shall not be deemed to be an ac- 4 tion to definitize the request for an equitable adjustment. 5 ‘‘(d) FLOW-DOWN OF INTERIM PARTIAL PAYMENT 6 AMOUNTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) PAYMENT TO FIRST TIER SUBCONTRACTOR 8 OR SUPPLIER.—A small business concern that re- 9 quests an equitable adjustment under this section 10 shall pay to a first tier subcontractor or supplier the 11 portion of each interim partial payment received that 12 is attributable to the increased costs of performance 13 incurred by the first tier subcontractor or supplier 14 due to the change in the terms of the contract per- 15 formance. 16 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT TO OTHER SUBCONTRACTOR OR 17 SUPPLIER.—A first tier subcontractor or supplier 18 that receives a portion of an interim partial payment 19 under this section shall pay to a subcontractor or 20 supplier at any tier the appropriate portion of the 21 payment.’’. 22 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator of the 23 Small Business Administration shall implement the re- 24 quirements of this section not later than the earlier of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2853 IS (1) the first day of the first full fiscal year be- 1 ginning after the date of enactment of this Act; or 2 (2) October 1, 2021. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:06 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2853.IS S2853 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS