Commonsense Contracting Act of 2015

Summary: Commonsense Contracting Act of 2015 This bill expresses the sense of Congress that, when used appropriately, with respect to federal agency procurement, an auction between a group of offerors who compete against each other by submitting offers for a contract or task or delivery order with the ability to submit revised offers with lower prices throughout the course of the auction (reverse auction) may improve the federal government's procurement of commercially available commodities by increasing competition, reducing prices, and improving opportunities for small businesses. The Small Business Act is amended to prohibit the use of reverse auction methods for certain Small Business Administration federal procurement contracts for:  design and construction services; goods purchased to protect federal employees, members of the Armed Forces, or civilians from bodily harm; or goods or services other than these: (1) to be awarded based on factors other than price and technical responsibility, or (2) if awarding the contract requires the contracting officer to conduct discussions with the offerors about their offer. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commonsense Contracting Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that, when used appropriately, reverse 
auctions may improve the Federal Government's procurement of 
commercially available commodities by increasing competition, reducing 
prices, and improving opportunities for small businesses.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REVERSE AUCTIONS FOR COVERED CONTRACTS.

    The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 47 (15 U.S.C. 631 note) as 
        section 48; and
            (2) by inserting after section 46 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 47. REVERSE AUCTIONS PROHIBITED FOR COVERED CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of a covered contract described in 
subsection (c), reverse auction methods may not be used if the award of 
the contract is to be made under--
            ``(1) section 8(a);
            ``(2) section 8(m);
            ``(3) section 15(a);
            ``(4) section 15(j);
            ``(5) section 31; or
            ``(6) section 36.
    ``(b) Limitations on Using Reverse Auctions.--
            ``(1) Decisions regarding use of a reverse auction.--The 
        following decisions are the responsibility of the contracting 
        officer and may not be delegated to any person except for 
        another contracting officer who meets the training requirements 
        of paragraph (2):
                    ``(A) A decision to use reverse auction methods as 
                part of the competition for award of a covered 
                contract.
                    ``(B) Any decision made after the decision 
                described in subsection (A) regarding the appropriate 
                evaluation criteria, the inclusion of vendors, the 
                acceptability of vendor submissions (including 
                decisions regarding timeliness), and the selection of 
                the winner.
            ``(2) Training required.--Only a contracting officer who 
        has received training on the appropriate use and supervision of 
        reverse auction methods of contracting may supervise or use 
        such methods in a procurement for a covered contract. The 
        training shall be provided by, or similar to the training 
        provided by, the Defense Acquisition University as described in 
        section 824 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon 
        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public 
        Law 113-291).
            ``(3) Number of offers; revisions to bids.--A Federal 
        agency may not award a covered contract using a reverse auction 
        method if only one offer is received or if offerors do not have 
        the ability to submit revised bids with lower prices throughout 
        the course of the auction.
            ``(4) Technically acceptable offers.--A Federal agency 
        awarding a covered contract using a reverse auction method 
        shall evaluate the technical acceptability of offers only as 
        technically acceptable or unacceptable.
            ``(5) Use of price rankings.--A Federal agency may not 
        award a covered contract using a reverse auction method if at 
        any time during the award process the Federal agency misinforms 
        an offeror about the price ranking of the offeror's last offer 
        submitted in relation to offers submitted by other offerors.
            ``(6) Use of third-party agents.--If a Federal agency uses 
        a third party agent to assist with the award of covered 
        contracts using a reverse auction method, the Federal agency 
        shall ensure that--
                    ``(A) inherently governmental functions (as such 
                term is used in section 2303 of title 41, United States 
                Code) are not performed by private contractors, 
                including by the third party agent;
                    ``(B) information on the past contract performance 
                of offerors created by the third party agent and shared 
                with the Federal agency is collected, maintained, and 
                shared in compliance with section 1126 of title 41, 
                United States Code;
                    ``(C) information on whether an offeror is a 
                responsible source (as defined in section 113 of title 
                41, United States Code) that is created by the third 
                party agent and shared with the Federal agency is 
                shared with the offeror and complies with section 
                8(b)(7) of this Act; and
                    ``(D) disputes between the third party agent and an 
                offeror may not be used to justify a determination that 
                an offeror is not a responsible source (as defined in 
                section 113 of title 41, United States Code) or to 
                otherwise restrict the ability of an offeror to compete 
                for the award of a contract or task or delivery order.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Contracting officer.--The term `contracting officer' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 2101(1) of title 41, 
        United States Code.
            ``(2) Covered contract.--The term `covered contract' means 
        a contract--
                    ``(A) for design and construction services;
                    ``(B) for goods purchased to protect Federal 
                employees, members of the Armed Forces, or civilians 
                from bodily harm; or
                    ``(C) for goods or services other than those goods 
                or services described in subparagraph (A) or (B)--
                            ``(i) to be awarded based on factors other 
                        than price and technical responsibility; or
                            ``(ii) if awarding the contract requires 
                        the contracting officer to conduct discussions 
                        with the offerors about their offer.
            ``(3) Design and construction services.--The term `design 
        and construction services' means--
                    ``(A) site planning and landscape design;
                    ``(B) architectural and interior design;
                    ``(C) engineering system design;
                    ``(D) performance of construction work for 
                facility, infrastructure, and environmental restoration 
                projects;
                    ``(E) delivery and supply of construction materials 
                to construction sites;
                    ``(F) construction, alteration, or repair, 
                including painting and decorating, of public buildings 
                and public works; and
                    ``(G) architectural and engineering services as 
                defined in section 1102 of title 40, United States 
                Code.
            ``(4) Reverse auction.--The term `reverse auction' means, 
        with respect to procurement by an agency, an auction between a 
        group of offerors who compete against each other by submitting 
        offers for a contract or task or delivery order with the 
        ability to submit revised offers with lower prices throughout 
        the course of the auction.''.