II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1470 To amend the Small Business Act relating to small business concerns owned and controlled by women, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and En- trepreneurship A BILL To amend the Small Business Act relating to small business concerns owned and controlled by women, 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 ‘‘Accountability in 4 Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1470.IS S1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1470 IS (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 2 ness Administration. 3 (2) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND 4 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—The term ‘‘small busi- 5 ness concern owned and controlled by women’’ has 6 the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Small 7 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 8 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING SELF-CERTIFICATION FOR WOMEN- 9 OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES. 10 (a) ELIMINATING SELF-CERTIFICATION IN PRIME 11 CONTRACTING AND SUBCONTRACTING FOR WOSBS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each prime contract award 13 and subcontract award that is counted for the pur- 14 pose of meeting the goals for participation by small 15 business concerns owned and controlled by women in 16 procurement contracts for Federal agencies, as es- 17 tablished in section 15(g)(2) of the Small Business 18 Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)(2)), shall be entered into with 19 small business concerns certified by the Adminis- 20 trator to meet the requirements under section 3(n) 21 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 632(n)) to be a small busi- 22 ness concern owned and controlled by women. 23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 24 take effect on October 1 of the fiscal year beginning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1470.IS S1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1470 IS after the Administrator promulgates the regulations 1 required under subsection (c). 2 (b) PHASED APPROACH TO ELIMINATING SELF-CER- 3 TIFICATION FOR WOSBS.—Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of law, any small business concern that self-cer- 5 tified as a small business concern owned and controlled 6 by women may— 7 (1) if the small business concern files a certifi- 8 cation application with the Administrator before the 9 end of the 1-year period beginning on the date of en- 10 actment of this Act, maintain such self-certification 11 until the Administrator makes a determination with 12 respect to such certification; and 13 (2) if the small business concern does not file 14 a certification application before the end of the 1- 15 year period beginning on the date of enactment of 16 this Act, lose, at the end of such 1-year period, any 17 self-certification of the small business concern as a 18 small business concern owned and controlled by 19 women. 20 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 21 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall pro- 22 mulgate regulations to carry out this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1470.IS S1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1470 IS SEC. 4. AGENCY TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS. 1 Section 15(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 2 U.S.C. 644(g)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(G) REMEDIATION.—Any Federal agency 5 failing to meet the goal for participation by 6 small business concerns owned and controlled 7 by women established under paragraph (1)(B) 8 in a fiscal year shall— 9 ‘‘(i) submit to the Committee on 10 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 11 the Senate and the Committee on Small 12 Business of the House of Representatives 13 the report required under subsection 14 (h)(1); and 15 ‘‘(ii) testify before the Committee on 16 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 17 the Senate and the Committee on Small 18 Business of the House of Representatives 19 on the details of the report submitted 20 under clause (i), in particular the justifica- 21 tions and remediation plan described in 22 subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection 23 (h)(1).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1470.IS S1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1470 IS SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY REPORT. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 3 Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Agriculture, the 4 Secretary of the Treasury, and the head of any other Fed- 5 eral agency that the Administrator determines appro- 6 priate, shall submit to Congress an interagency report 7 that— 8 (1) identifies the leading economic barriers for 9 small business concerns owned and controlled by 10 women, particularly for industries underrepresented 11 by small business concerns owned and controlled by 12 women; 13 (2) includes a detailed description of the impact 14 of inflation and supply chain disruptions on small 15 business concerns owned and controlled by women 16 during the 3-year period preceding the report; 17 (3) makes recommendations to improve access 18 to capital for small business concerns owned and 19 controlled by women; and 20 (4) in consultation with the Office of Federal 21 Procurement Policy, makes recommendations for in- 22 creasing the number of Federal contract opportuni- 23 ties for small business concerns owned and con- 24 trolled by women. 25 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:57 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1470.IS S1470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS