VA–SBA Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4520 To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans or service-disabled veterans to the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 10, 2020 Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business con- cerns owned and controlled by veterans or service-dis- abled veterans to the Small Business Administration, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business 5 Adjustment Act’’ or the ‘‘VA–SBA Act’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4520 IS Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Transfer date. Sec. 3. Amendment to and transfer of veteran-owned and service-disabled vet- eran-owned business database. Sec. 4. Additional requirements for database. Sec. 5. Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. Sec. 6. Certification for small business concerns owned and controlled by vet- erans. Sec. 7. Status of self-certified small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. Sec. 8. Transfer of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administra- tion. Sec. 9. Report. Sec. 10. Determination of budgetary effects. SEC. 2. TRANSFER DATE. 1 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘transfer date’’ 2 means the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 3 of this Act. 4 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AND TRANSFER OF VETERAN- 5 OWNED AND SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN- 6 OWNED BUSINESS DATABASE. 7 (a) AMENDMENT OF VETERAN-OWNED AND SERV- 8 ICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS DATA- 9 BASE.—Effective on the transfer date, section 8127 of 10 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 11 (1) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘the Secretary 12 under subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘the Adminis- 13 trator under section 36 of the Small Business Act’’; 14 (2) in subsection (f)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ each place 16 it appears, except in the last place it appears in 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4520 IS paragraph (2)(A), and inserting ‘‘the Adminis- 1 trator’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘small 3 business concerns owned and controlled by vet- 4 erans with service-connected disabilities’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘small business concerns owned and 6 controlled by service-disabled veterans’’; 7 (C) in paragraph (2)— 8 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 9 (I) by striking ‘‘to access’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘to obtain from the Sec- 11 retary of Veterans Affairs’’; and 12 (II) by inserting ‘‘, United States 13 Code,’’ after ‘‘title 5’’; and 14 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 15 inserting the following: 16 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection— 17 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 18 ‘‘(I) verify an individual’s status as a vet- 19 eran or a service-disabled veteran; and 20 ‘‘(II) establish a system to permit the Ad- 21 ministrator to access, but not alter, the 22 verification of such status; and 23 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall verify— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4520 IS ‘‘(I) the status of a business concern as a 1 small business concern; and 2 ‘‘(II) the ownership and control of such 3 business concern. 4 ‘‘(C) The Administrator may not certify a concern 5 under subsection (b) or section 36A if the Secretary of 6 Veterans Affairs cannot provide the verification described 7 under subparagraph (B)(i)(I).’’; 8 (D) by striking paragraphs (4) and (7); 9 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 10 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively, and 11 redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (6); 12 (F) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 13 by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The 14 Administrator’’; and 15 (G) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 16 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 17 (I) by striking ‘‘verify the status 18 of the concern as a small business 19 concern or the ownership or control of 20 the concern’’ and inserting ‘‘certify 21 the status of the concern as a small 22 business concern owned and controlled 23 by veterans (under section 36A) or a 24 small business concern owned and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4520 IS controlled by service-disabled veterans 1 (under subsection (g) of this sec- 2 tion)’’; 3 (II) by striking ‘‘verification’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘certification’’; and 5 (III) by striking ‘‘the Small Busi- 6 ness Administration (as established 7 under section 5(i) of the Small Busi- 8 ness Act)’’ and inserting ‘‘the Admin- 9 istration (as established under section 10 5(i))’’; 11 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 12 (I) in clause (i)— 13 (aa) by striking ‘‘small busi- 14 ness concern owned and con- 15 trolled by veterans with service- 16 connected disabilities’’ and in- 17 serting ‘‘small business concern 18 owned and controlled by service- 19 disabled veterans’’; and 20 (bb) by striking ‘‘the Small 21 Business Act’’ and inserting ‘‘the 22 Administration’’; and 23 (II) in clause (ii)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4520 IS (aa) by amending subclause 1 (I) to read as follows: 2 ‘‘(I) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or 3 the Administrator; or’’; and 4 (bb) in subclause (II), by 5 striking ‘‘the contracting officer 6 of the Department’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘the applicable contracting offi- 8 cer’’; and 9 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 10 (3) by redesignating subsection (k) (relating to 11 definitions) as subsection (l); 12 (4) by inserting after subsection (j) (relating to 13 annual reports) the following: 14 ‘‘(k) ANNUAL TRANSFER FOR CERTIFICATION 15 COSTS.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary of Veterans 16 Affairs shall reimburse the Administrator in an amount 17 necessary to cover any cost incurred by the Administrator 18 for certifying small business concerns owned and con- 19 trolled by veterans that do not qualify as small business 20 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans 21 for the Secretary for purposes of this section and section 22 8128 of this title. The Administrator is authorized to ac- 23 cept such reimbursement. The amount of any such reim- 24 bursement shall be determined jointly by the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4520 IS and the Administrator and shall be provided from fees col- 1 lected by the Secretary under multiple-award schedule 2 contracts. Any disagreement about the amount shall be 3 resolved by the Director of the Office of Management and 4 Budget.’’; and 5 (5) in subsection (l) (relating to definitions), as 6 so redesignated— 7 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 8 and (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respec- 9 tively; and 10 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 11 so redesignated, the following: 12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Administrator’ means the Ad- 13 ministrator of the Small Business Administration.’’. 14 (b) TRANSFER OF REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO 15 DATABASE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—Effective on 16 the transfer date, subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 17 38, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), 18 is transferred to section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 19 U.S.C. 657f), inserted so as to appear after subsection (e). 20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The following 21 amendments shall take effect on the transfer date: 22 (1) SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—Section 23 3(q)(2)(C)(i)(III) of the Small Business Act (15 24 U.S.C. 632(q)(2)(C)(i)(III)) is amended by striking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4520 IS ‘‘section 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘section 36’’. 2 (2) TITLE 38.—Section 8128 of title 38, United 3 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘maintained by 4 the Secretary under section 8127(f) of this title’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘maintained by the Administrator of 6 the Small Business Act under section 36 of the 7 Small Business Act’’. 8 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DATABASE. 9 (a) ADMINISTRATION ACCESS TO DATABASE BEFORE 10 THE TRANSFER DATE.—During the period between the 11 date of the enactment of this Act and the transfer date, 12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide the Admin- 13 istrator of the Small Business Administration with access 14 to the contents of the database described under section 15 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code. 16 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 17 or the amendments made by this Act may be construed— 18 (1) as prohibiting the Administrator of the 19 Small Business Administration from combining the 20 contents of the database described under section 21 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code, with other 22 databases maintained by the Administration; or 23 (2) as requiring the Administrator to use any 24 system or technology related to the database de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4520 IS scribed under section 8127(f) of title 38, United 1 States Code, on or after the transfer date to comply 2 with the requirement to maintain a database under 3 subsection (f) of section 36 of the Small Business 4 Act (as transferred pursuant to section 3(b) of this 5 Act). 6 (c) RECOGNITION OF THE ISSUANCE OF JOINT REG- 7 ULATIONS.—The date specified under section 1832(e) of 8 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 9 2017 (15 U.S.C. 632 note) shall be deemed to be October 10 1, 2018. 11 SEC. 5. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 12 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 13 SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 14 (a) PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 15 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DIS- 16 ABLED VETERANS.—Section 36 of the Small Business Act 17 (15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended— 18 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as para- 19 graph (3), adjusting the margin accordingly, and 20 transferring such paragraph to subsection (h) of 21 such section, as added by paragraph (6) of this sub- 22 section, so as to appear after paragraph (2); 23 (2) by striking subsection (e); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4520 IS (3) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and 1 (c) as subsections (c), (d), and (e) respectively; 2 (4) by inserting before subsection (c), as so re- 3 designated, the following: 4 ‘‘(a) CONTRACTING OFFICER DEFINED.—For pur- 5 poses of this section, the term ‘contracting officer’ has the 6 meaning given such term in section 2101 of title 41, 7 United States Code. 8 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF SMALL BUSINESS CON- 9 CERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED 10 VETERANS.—With respect to a procurement program or 11 preference established under this Act that applies to prime 12 contractors, the Administrator shall— 13 ‘‘(1) certify whether a concern has status as a 14 small business concern owned and controlled by serv- 15 ice-disabled veterans; and 16 ‘‘(2) require the periodic recertification of such 17 status.’’; 18 (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 19 striking ‘‘and that the award can be made at a fair 20 market price’’ and inserting ‘‘, that the award can 21 be made at a fair market price, and if each concern 22 is certified by the Administrator as a small business 23 concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 24 veterans’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4520 IS (6) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Notwith- 2 standing subsection (c), a contracting officer may only 3 award a sole source contract to a small business concern 4 owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans or a 5 contract on the basis of competition restricted to small 6 business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 7 veterans if such a concern is certified by the Administrator 8 as a small business concern owned and controlled by serv- 9 ice-disabled veterans. 10 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— 11 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In car- 12 rying out this section, the Administrator shall estab- 13 lish procedures relating to— 14 ‘‘(A) the filing, investigation, and disposi- 15 tion by the Administration of any challenge to 16 the eligibility of a small business concern to re- 17 ceive assistance under this section (including a 18 challenge, filed by an interested party, relating 19 to the veracity of a certification made or infor- 20 mation provided to the Administration by a 21 small business concern under subsection (b)); 22 and 23 ‘‘(B) verification by the Administrator of 24 the accuracy of any certification made or infor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4520.IS S4520 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4520 IS mation provided to the Administration by a 1 small business concern under subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATIONS.—The procedures estab- 3 lished under paragraph (1) shall provide for a pro- 4 gram of examinations by the Administrator of any 5 small business concern making a certification or pro- 6 viding information to the Administrator under sub- 7 section (b), to determine the veracity of any state- 8 ments or information provided as part of such cer- 9 tification or otherwise provided under subsection (b). 10 ‘‘(i) PROVISION OF DATA.—Upon the request of the 11 Administrator, the head of any Federal department or 12 a [Text truncated for display. 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