II 

Calendar No. 561 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4623 

[Report No. 117–209] 

To advance Government innovation through leading-edge procurement 

capability, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, without amendment 

A BILL 

To advance Government innovation through leading-edge 

procurement capability, 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 ‘‘Advancing Government 

5 Innovation with Leading-Edge Procurement Act of 2022’’ 

6 or the ‘‘AGILE Procurement Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The Government Accountability Office 

4 (GAO) has conducted a trend analysis of govern5 mentwide contracting for each of the last several fis6 cal years. These analyses show that the Federal dol7 lars obligated through contracts has been steadily in8 creasing. 

9 (2) Contract spending accounts for more than 

10 80 percent of the Federal information technology 

11 budget. 

12 (3) Spending on cybersecurity, software, cloud 

13 computing, and artificial intelligence technologies is 

14 projected to grow significantly. 

15 (4) Rapid technological developments and in16 creased Government demand create a need for a 

17 Federal acquisition workforce with an understanding 

18 of technology and related procurement consider19 ations. 

20 (5) Recruitment and retention of procurement 

21 staff are chief concerns for Federal agencies, which 

22 are facing a shortage of procurement professionals 

23 despite growing contract spending and the need for 

24 a faster procurement process to keep pace with tech25 nological advancements. 


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1 (6) Federal agencies are challenged to shorten 

2 the procurement cycle to timely meet agency tech3 nology requirements. Unlike in the past, procure4 ments that take years from requirements develop5 ment to implementation may be obsolete by the time 

6 they are fielded. 

7 (7) While Federal contracting dollars are in8 creasing year over year, the number of Federal con9 tractors receiving contract awards is shrinking, par10 ticularly with regard to new and small companies. 

11 This trend could impair the Federal Government’s 

12 access to innovative commercial technologies. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) ACQUISITION WORKFORCE.—The term ‘‘ac16 quisition workforce’’ means employees of an execu17 tive agency who are responsible for procurement, 

18 contracting, program or project management, or oth19 ers as designated by the Chief Acquisition Officer, 

20 Senior Procurement Executive, or Head of the Con21 tracting Activity. 

22 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator for Federal Pro24 curement Policy. 


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1 (3) CROSS-FUNCTIONAL.—The term ‘‘cross2 functional’’ means a structure in which individuals 

3 with different functional expertise or from different 

4 areas of an organization work together as a team. 

5 (4) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

6 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

8 (5) EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.—The term ‘‘ex9 periential learning’’ means on-the-job experiences or 

10 simulations that serve to enhance workforce profes11 sional skills. 

12 (6) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

13 TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘information and commu14 nications technology’’ has the meaning given the 

15 term in subpart 2.101 of the Federal Acquisition 

16 Regulation and includes associated services. 

17 (7) QUALIFIED BUSINESS WHOLLY-OWNED

18 THROUGH AN EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP

19 PLAN.—The term ‘‘qualified businesses wholly-owned 

20 through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan’’ means 

21 an S corporation (as defined in section 1361(a)(1) 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) for which 

23 100 percent of the outstanding stock is held through 

24 an employee stock ownership plan (as defined in sec25 tion 4975(e)(7) of such Code). 


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1 (8) RELEVANT COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

2 The term ‘‘relevant committees of Congress’’ means 

3 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern4 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

5 Oversight and Reform of the House of Representa6 tives. 

7 (9) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi8 ness’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘small busi9 ness concern’’ in section 3 of the Small Business Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 632). 

11 SEC. 4. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE. 

12 (a) PATHWAYS TO PROCUREMENT PILOT PRO13 GRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis16 trator, in coordination with the Federal Acquisition 

17 Institute and the Office of Personnel Management, 

18 as necessary, shall pilot a program for entry of jun19 ior and mid-career professionals to the General 

20 Schedule Contracting series (GS–1102) workforce, 

21 by— 

22 (A) considering the inclusion of program 

23 participants from other job series and fields, in24 cluding veterans, military spouses, and private 

25 sector procurement professionals; 


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1 (B) providing alternatives to education and 

2 training requirements for entry into the General 

3 Schedule Contracting series (GS–1102) work4 force, such as allowing for use of educational 

5 credits in a technical discipline relevant to 

6 agency procurement, such as information and 

7 communications technology and scientific and 

8 engineering disciplines; 

9 (C) providing pathways to reciprocity or 

10 fulfillment of certification requirements for De11 partment of Defense professional contracting 

12 certification holders and commercial sector ac13 quisition certification holders, such as certified 

14 professional contract managers and certified 

15 Federal contract managers; and 

16 (D) providing a capstone class or experi17 ence and relevant mentorship opportunities. 

18 (2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 2 years after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis20 trator shall provide to the relevant committees of 

21 Congress a briefing on implementation of the pilot 

22 program and any recommendations related to expan23 sion or extension. 


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1 (3) DURATION.—The duration of the pilot pro2 gram under this subsection shall be not less than 5 

3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (b) EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING.—Not later than 1 

5 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed6 eral Acquisition Institute shall incorporate experiential 

7 learning into the training framework for the General 

8 Schedule Contracting series (GS–1102). 

9 (c) TRAINING ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICA10 TIONS TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

13 Acquisition Institute, in coordination with the Ad14 ministrator, the Administrator of General Services, 

15 the Chief Information Officers Council, and the 

16 United States Digital Service shall develop and im17 plement or otherwise provide a cross-functional in18 formation and communications technology acquisi19 tion training program to acquisition workforce mem20 bers involved in acquiring information and commu21 nications technology. The training shall— 

22 (A) include learning objectives related to 

23 market research and communicating with in24 dustry, developing requirements, acquisition 

25 planning, and awarding and administering conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4623.RS S4623

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1 tracts for information and communications 

2 technology; 

3 (B) include learning objectives encouraging 

4 use of small business programs to acquire infor5 mation and communications technology; 

6 (C) include learning objectives encouraging 

7 the use of commercial or commercially available 

8 off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies to the great9 est extent practicable; 

10 (D) include case studies of lessons learned 

11 from Federal information and communications 

12 technology procurements and contracts; 

13 (E) include experiential learning opportu14 nities; 

15 (F) include continuous learning rec16 ommendations and resources to keep the skills 

17 of acquisition workforce members current; and 

18 (G) be made available to acquisition work19 force members designated by a Chief Acquisi20 tion Officer, Senior Procurement Executive, or 

21 Head of the Contracting Activity to participate 

22 in the training program. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

25 of the Federal Acquisition Institute shall provide to 


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1 the relevant committees of Congress, the Chief Ac2 quisition Officers Council and the Chief Information 

3 Officers Council— 

4 (A) a briefing outlining the Director’s 

5 progress in developing and implementing or 

6 otherwise providing the information and com7 munications technology acquisition training de8 scribed in paragraph (1); and 

9 (B) a list of any congressionally mandated 

10 acquisition training that the Director deter11 mines to be outdated or no longer necessary for 

12 other reasons. 

13 (3) DURATION.—The training program shall be 

14 offered for a minimum of 5 years following the date 

15 of implementation of the training program. 

16 SEC. 5. INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT METHODS. 

17 (a) GUIDANCE ON INNOVATIVE PROCUREMENT

18 METHODS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue guid20 ance to inform executive agencies on the availability of 

21 streamlined and alternative procurement methods for pro22 curement of information and communications technology, 

23 including— 

24 (1) simplified procedures for certain commercial 

25 products and commercial services in accordance with 


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1 subpart 13.5 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 

2 prize competitions under the America COMPETES 

3 Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358), 

4 commercial solutions opening authorities as provided 

5 in this section or under separate authority, the 

6 Small Business Innovation Research Program, and 

7 joint venture partnerships through agreement with 

8 National Technical Innovation Service within the 

9 Department of Commerce; and 

10 (2) information on appropriate use, examples 

11 and templates, and any other information deter12 mined relevant by the Administrator to assist con13 tracting officers and other members of the acquisi14 tion workforce in utilizing the procedures described 

15 in paragraph (1). 

16 (b) EXPANSION OF COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPEN17 ING AUTHORITY.—Section 880 of the National Defense 

18 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114– 

19 328; 41 U.S.C. 3301 note) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

22 the following new subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(C) The head of an executive agency ap24 proved for the program, on a pilot or permaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4623.RS S4623

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1 nent basis, by the Director of the Office of 

2 Management and Budget.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 

4 the following new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(C) An executive agency approved for the 

6 program by the Director of the Office of Man7 agement and Budget.’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$10,000,000’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘$25,000,000’’; 

10 (3) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(e) REPORTING AND DATA COLLECTION.—The 

13 head of an agency shall report information on contracts 

14 made using procedures under this section to the Office of 

15 Management and Budget as determined by the Office of 

16 Management and Budget. The Administrator shall collect 

17 and analyze data on the use of the authority under this 

18 section for the purposes of— 

19 ‘‘(1) developing and sharing best practices; 

20 ‘‘(2) gathering information on the implementa21 tion of the authority and related policy issues; and 

22 ‘‘(3) informing the Committee on Homeland Se23 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 

24 the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 


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1 House of Representatives on the use of the author2 ity.’’; 

3 (4) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘commercial product’ includes a 

7 commercial product or a commercial service, as 

8 those terms are defined in sections 103 and 103a, 

9 respectively, of title 41, United States Code; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘innovative’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) any new technology, process, or meth12 od, including research and development; or 

13 ‘‘(B) any new application of an existing 

14 technology, process, or method.’’; 

15 (5) by striking subsection (g); 

16 (6) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘Pilot 

17 programs’’ and inserting ‘‘Programs’’; and 

18 (7) by striking ‘‘pilot’’ each place it appears. 

19 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 in section 2(b) of such Act is amended by striking the 

21 item relating to section 880 and inserting the following 

22 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 880. Programs for authority to acquire innovative commercial items using 

general solicitation competitive procedures.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO ENTRY IN FEDERAL 

2 CONTRACTING. 

3 (a) USE OF PAST PERFORMANCE.—Not later than 

4 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

5 Administrator shall issue guidance, including examples 

6 and templates where appropriate, on— 

7 (1) when a wider range of projects, such as 

8 commercial or non-government, as well as Govern9 ment projects, should be accepted as relevant past 

10 performance, in order to have access to a wider pool 

11 of eligible firms with capability to perform a require12 ment, such as a requirement without much prece13 dent; and 

14 (2) use of alternative evaluation methods that 

15 may be appropriate for a requirement without much 

16 precedent. 

17 (b) ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO ENTRY.— 

18 (1) ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO ENTRY WORK19 ING GROUP.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

21 convene a working group or an appropriate existing 

22 body (in this section referred to as the ‘‘working 

23 group’’), to make recommendations to reduce bar24 riers to entry for entities seeking to do business with 

25 the Federal Government. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group con2 vened under paragraph (1) shall be chaired by the 

3 Administrator or a designee of the Administrator 

4 and include, at a minimum, representatives from: 

5 (A) The General Services Administration. 

6 (B) The Department of Homeland Secu7 rity. 

8 (C) The Department of Commerce. 

9 (D) The Department of Defense. 

10 (E) The Department of Health and 

11 Human Services. 

12 (F) The Small Business Administration. 

13 (G) Any other agencies or organizations, 

14 including national security agencies, determined 

15 appropriate by the Administrator. 

16 (3) CONSULTATION.—The working group shall 

17 obtain input from the public, including from the 

18 Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) 

19 network and from other industry representatives, on 

20 ways in which Federal procurement policies and reg21 ulations are obsolete, overly burdensome or restric22 tive, and serve to create barriers to participation in 

23 Federal contracting or unnecessarily increase bid 

24 and proposal costs. 


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1 (4) EXAMINATION OF ACTIONS.—The working 

2 group shall consider the input obtained under para3 graph (3) and any other information determined to 

4 be appropriate by the Administrator to identify leg5 islative, regulatory, and other actions to foster more 

6 resilient supply chains, provide access to a wider 

7 pool of qualified vendors, and increase opportunities 

8 for participation of new, small, and nontraditional 

9 businesses in the procurement process, in addition to 

10 addressing other barriers. 

11 (5) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than two 

12 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Administrator shall, in consultation with the Federal 

14 Acquisition Regulatory Council, the Chief Acquisi15 tion Officers Council, the working group, and other 

16 agencies as appropriate, implement the regulatory 

17 and other non-legislative actions identified under 

18 paragraph (4) to address barriers to entry for enti19 ties seeking to participate in Federal Government 

20 procurement. 

21 (6) BRIEFING.—Not later than two years after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis23 trator shall brief the relevant committees of Con24 gress on the legislative actions identified under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Nov 18, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4623.RS S4623

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1 graph (4), and the actions implemented under para2 graph (5). 

3 (c) REVISION TO THE MANDATORY USE OF THE

4 COST ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.—Section 1502(b)(1) of 

5 title 41, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘the 

7 amount set forth in section 3702(a)(1)(A) of title 10 

8 as the amount is adjusted in accordance with appli9 cable requirements of law’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘$15,000,000’’; and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (C)— 

12 (A) in clause (ii), by striking the semicolon 

13 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

14 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

15 inserting a period; and 

16 (C) by striking clause (iv). 

17 SEC. 7. INCENTIVIZING EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP 

18 PLANS FOR BUSINESS GROWTH. 

19 (a) PILOT PROGRAM TO USE NONCOMPETITIVE PRO20 CEDURES FOR CERTAIN FOLLOW-ON CONTRACTS TO

21 QUALIFIED BUSINESSES WHOLLY-OWNED THROUGH AN

22 EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN (ESOP).— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator may 

24 expand the pilot program authorized by section 874 

25 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 


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1 Year 2022 (Public Law 117–81; 10 U.S.C. 3204 

2 note) for governmentwide use, including by coordi3 nating as necessary with the Federal Acquisition 

4 Regulatory Council to make related amendments to 

5 the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

6 (2) FOLLOW-ON CONTRACTS.—Notwithstanding 

7 the requirements of section 3301 of title 41, United 

8 States Code, for purposes of carrying out a govern9 mentwide ESOP pilot program established under 

10 paragraph (1), the products or services to be pro11 cured by an executive agency under a follow-on con12 tract with a qualified business wholly-owned through 

13 an ESOP for the continued development, production, 

14 or provision of products or services that are the 

15 same as or substantially similar to the products or 

16 services procured under a prior contract may be pro17 cured through procedures other than competitive 

18 procedures if the performance of the qualified busi19 ness on the prior contract was rated as satisfactory 

20 (or the equivalent) or better. 

21 (3) LIMITATION.—A qualified business wholly22 owned through an ESOP may have a single oppor23 tunity for award of a sole-source follow-on contract 

24 under this subsection, unless the senior procurement 


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1 executive of the executive agency awarding the con2 tract approves a waiver of such limitation. 

3 (b) VERIFICATION AND REPORTING OF QUALIFIED

4 BUSINESSES WHOLLY-OWNED THROUGH AN EMPLOYEE

5 STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN.—Under a pilot program estab6 lished under this section, the Administrator shall establish 

7 procedures— 

8 (1) for businesses to verify status as a qualified 

9 business wholly-owned through an ESOP for the 

10 purposes of this section by using existing Federal re11 porting mechanisms; 

12 (2) for a qualified businesses wholly-owned 

13 through an ESOP to certify that not more than 50 

14 percent of the amount paid under the contract will 

15 be expended on subcontracts, including similarly sit16 uated ESOPs if determined appropriate by the Ad17 ministrator, subject to such necessary and reason18 able waivers as the implementing guidance or regu19 lations may prescribe; and 

20 (3) to record and provide to relevant commit21 tees of Congress upon request information on each 

22 follow-on contract awarded under authority of this 

23 subsection, including details relevant to the nature 

24 of such contract and the qualified business wholly25 owned through an ESOP that received the contract. 


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1 (c) SUNSET.—A pilot program established under this 

2 section shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 561 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4623 

[Report No. 117–209] 

A BILL 

To advance Government innovation through leadpurposes. ing-edge procurement capability, and for other 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Reported without amendment 


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