II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 673 

To amend the Small Business Act to eliminate the inclusion of option years 

in the award price for sole source contracts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Ms. ERNST (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) 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 eliminate the inclusion 

of option years in the award price for sole source contracts, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Contracting 

5 Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

3 and the Administrator thereof; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘small business concern owned 

5 and controlled by service-disabled veterans’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 3(q) of the Small 

7 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)); and 

8 (3) the term ‘‘small business concern owned 

9 and controlled by women’’ has the meaning given the 

10 term in section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 637(m)). 

12 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTING AUTHORITY FOR 

13 CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

14 (a) QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS CON15 CERNS.—Section 31(b)(2)(A) of the Small Business Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—A con18 tracting officer may award sole source contracts 

19 under this section to any qualified HUBZone 

20 small business concern, if— 

21 ‘‘(i) the qualified HUBZone small 

22 business concern is determined to be a re23 sponsible contractor with respect to per24 formance of the contract opportunity; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the contracting officer does not 

2 have a reasonable expectation that 2 or 

3 more qualified HUBZone small business 

4 concerns will submit offers for the contract 

5 opportunity; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the anticipated award price of 

7 the contract will not exceed— 

8 ‘‘(I) $7,000,000, in the case of a 

9 contract opportunity assigned a stand10 ard industrial classification code for 

11 manufacturing; or 

12 ‘‘(II) $4,000,000, in the case of 

13 all other contract opportunities; 

14 ‘‘(iv) in the estimation of the con15 tracting officer, the contract award can be 

16 made at a fair and reasonable price; and 

17 ‘‘(v) the base and each of the option 

18 years of the award, if any, are of similar 

19 value.’’. 

20 (b) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND CON21 TROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—Section 

22 36(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657f(a)) is 

23 amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—In accordance with 

25 this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source 


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1 contract to any small business concern owned and con2 trolled by service-disabled veterans if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the concern is determined to be a respon4 sible contractor with respect to performance of the 

5 contract opportunity; 

6 ‘‘(2) the contracting officer does not have a rea7 sonable expectation that 2 or more small business 

8 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 

9 veterans will submit offers for the contract oppor10 tunity; 

11 ‘‘(3) the anticipated award price of the contract 

12 will not exceed— 

13 ‘‘(A) $7,000,000, in the case of a contract 

14 opportunity assigned a standard industrial clas15 sification code for manufacturing; or 

16 ‘‘(B) $4,000,000, in the case of any other 

17 contract opportunity; 

18 ‘‘(4) in the estimation of the contracting officer, 

19 the contract award can be made at a fair and rea20 sonable price; 

21 ‘‘(5) the contracting officer has notified the Ad22 ministration of the intent to make the award and re23 quested that the Administration determine the eligi24 bility of the concern for the award; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the base and each of the option years of 

2 the award, if any, are of similar value; and 

3 ‘‘(7) the Administration has determined that 

4 the concern is eligible for the award.’’. 

5 (c) CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

6 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—Section 8(m) of the 

7 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)) is amended— 

8 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON11 TRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

12 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON13 TROLLED BY WOMEN.—A contracting officer may 

14 award a sole source contract under this subsection 

15 to any small business concern owned and controlled 

16 by women described in paragraph (2)(A) and cer17 tified under paragraph (2)(E) if— 

18 ‘‘(A) the concern is determined to be a re19 sponsible contractor with respect to perform20 ance of the contract opportunity; 

21 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer does not have 

22 a reasonable expectation that 2 or more small 

23 business concerns owned and controlled by 

24 women described in paragraph (2)(A) will sub25 mit offers for the contract opportunity; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the anticipated award price of the 

2 contract will not exceed— 

3 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con4 tract opportunity assigned a standard in5 dustrial classification code for manufac6 turing; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any 

8 other contract opportunity; 

9 ‘‘(D) in the estimation of the contracting 

10 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

11 fair and reasonable price; 

12 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

13 the Administration of the intent to make the 

14 award and requested that the Administration 

15 determine the eligibility of the concern for the 

16 award; 

17 ‘‘(F) the base and each of the option years 

18 of the award, if any, are of similar value; and 

19 ‘‘(G) the Administration has determined 

20 that the concern is eligible for the award.’’; and 

21 (2) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(8) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON24 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

25 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN IN SUBSTANTIALLY


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1 UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.—A contracting 

2 officer may award a sole source contract under this 

3 subsection to any small business concern owned and 

4 controlled by women certified under paragraph 

5 (2)(E) that is in an industry in which small business 

6 concerns owned and controlled by women are sub7 stantially underrepresented (as determined by the 

8 Administrator under paragraph (3)) if— 

9 ‘‘(A) the concern is determined to be a re10 sponsible contractor with respect to perform11 ance of the contract opportunity; 

12 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer does not have 

13 a reasonable expectation that 2 or more busi14 nesses in an industry that has received a waiver 

15 under paragraph (3) will submit offers for the 

16 contract opportunity; 

17 ‘‘(C) the anticipated award price of the 

18 contract will not exceed— 

19 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con20 tract opportunity assigned a standard in21 dustrial classification code for manufac22 turing; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any 

24 other contract opportunity; 


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1 ‘‘(D) in the estimation of the contracting 

2 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

3 fair and reasonable price; 

4 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

5 the Administration of the intent to make the 

6 award and requested that the Administration 

7 determine the eligibility of the concern for the 

8 award; 

9 ‘‘(F) the base and each of the option years 

10 of the award, if any, are of similar value; and 

11 ‘‘(G) the Administration has determined 

12 that the concern is eligible for the award.’’. 

13 (d) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

14 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.—Section 8(a)(1)(D)(i) of 

15 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(1)(D)(i)) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(D)(i) A contracting officer may award sole 

18 source contracts under this subsection to any quali19 fied socially and economically disadvantaged small 

20 business concern, as defined in paragraph (4)(A), 

21 if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the qualified socially and economically 

23 disadvantaged small business concern is deter24 mined to be a responsible contractor with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S673.IS S673

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1 spect to performance of the contract oppor2 tunity; 

3 ‘‘(II) the contracting officer does not have 

4 a reasonable expectation that 2 or more quali5 fied socially and economically disadvantaged 

6 small business concerns will submit offers for 

7 the contract opportunity; 

8 ‘‘(III) the anticipated award price of the 

9 contract will not exceed— 

10 ‘‘(aa) $7,000,000, in the case of a 

11 contract opportunity assigned a standard 

12 industrial classification code for manufac13 turing; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) $4,000,000, in the case of any 

15 other contract opportunity; 

16 ‘‘(IV) in the estimation of the contracting 

17 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

18 fair and reasonable price; and 

19 ‘‘(V) the base and each of the option years 

20 of the award, if any, are of similar value.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. SBA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM NOTIFICATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall notify 

23 the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

24 of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 


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1 the House of Representatives when the Administrator has 

2 implemented each of the following: 

3 (1) A program to certify small business con4 cerns owned and controlled by women. 

5 (2) A program to certify small business con6 cerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet7 erans. 

8 (b) ADDITIONAL NOTICE.—The Administrator shall 

9 submit a copy of a notification required under subsection 

10 (a) to the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Rep11 resentatives so that the Law Revision Counsel may execute 

12 the amendments required under section 5. 

13 SEC. 5. REMOVAL OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION UPON 

14 IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATION PRO15 GRAMS. 

16 Effective upon the notification described in section 4, 

17 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.), as amend18 ed by section 3 of this Act, is amended— 

19 (1) in section 8(m) (15 U.S.C. 637(m))— 

20 (A) in paragraph (7)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (D), by adding 

22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

23 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (E) and 

24 (G); 


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1 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 

2 (F) as subparagraph (E); and 

3 (iv) in subparagraph (E), as so redes4 ignated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

5 a period; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (8)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (D), by adding 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (E) and 

10 (G); 

11 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 

12 (F) as subparagraph (E); and 

13 (iv) in subparagraph (E), as so redes14 ignated, by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

15 a period; and 

16 (2) in section 36(a) (15 U.S.C. 657f(a))— 

17 (A) in paragraph (3), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi20 colon at the end and inserting a period; and 

21 (C) by striking paragraphs (5), (6), and 

22 (7). 

23 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

24 (a) STUDY.—With respect to the procurement pro25 grams of the Administration for small business concerns 


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1 owned and controlled by women and for small business 

2 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet3 erans, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

4 conduct an evaluation of the policies and practices used 

5 by the Administration and other Federal agencies to pro6 vide assurances that— 

7 (1) contracting officers are properly classifying 

8 sole source awards under those programs in the 

9 Federal Procurement Data System; and 

10 (2) sole source contracts awarded under those 

11 programs are being awarded to eligible concerns. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

13 date on which the Administration implements the certifi14 cation programs described in section 4(a), the Comptroller 

15 General of the United States shall submit to the Com16 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

17 Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the 

18 House of Representatives a report containing the findings 

19 made in carrying out the study required under subsection 

20 (a). 

21 (c) SBA CONSIDERATION OF GAO REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re23 view the report issued under subsection (b) and take 

24 such actions as the Administrator may determine 

25 appropriate to address any concerns raised in the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S673.IS S673

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1 port and any recommendations contained in the re2 port. 

3 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—After the review 

4 described under paragraph (1), the Administrator 

5 shall submit to Congress a report— 

6 (A) stating that no additional actions were 

7 necessary to address any concerns or rec8 ommendations contained in the report; or 

9 (B) describing the actions taken by the 

10 Administrator to resolve those concerns or im11 plement those recommendations. 

Æ 


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