S. 583 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement strategies, and for 

other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Rigorous and Innovative Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions 

Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PRICE Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds that— 

(1) small business participation in the Federal marketplace 

is key to ensuring a strong industrial base; 

(2) the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 

1988 (Public Law 100–656) sets forth the requirement for the 

President to establish Government-wide goals for procurement 

contracts awarded to small businesses; 

(3) each year, the Small Business Administration works 

with each Federal agency to set their respective contracting 

goals and publishes a scorecard to ensure that the total of 

all Federal agency goals meets the required targets for the 

Federal Government; 

(4) the Department has received among the highest scorecard letter grades 10 years in a row and is the largest Federal 

agency to have such a track record; 

(5) in virtually every segment of the economy of the United 

States, including the homeland security community, there are 

small businesses working to support the mission and playing 

a critical role in delivering efficient and innovative solutions 

to the acquisition needs of the Federal Government; 

(6) the Procurement Innovation Lab of the Department— 

(A) is aimed at experimenting with innovative acquisition techniques across the Homeland Security Enterprise; 

(B) provides a forum to test new ideas, share lessons 

learned, and promote best practices; 

(C) fosters cultural changes that promote innovation 

and managed risk taking through a continuous cycle of 

testing, obtaining feedback, sharing information, and retesting where appropriate; and 

(D) aims to make the acquisition process more smooth 

and innovative within the construct of the Federal Acquisition Regulation for both the Federal Government and contractors; and 
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(7) despite progress in the adoption of new and better 

business practices by many Federal agencies, the overall adoption of modernized business practices and advanced technologies across the Federal Government remains slow and 

uneven. 

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy. 

(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 

‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and 

(B) the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on 

Small Business of the House of Representatives. 

(3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the Chief Acquisition Officers Council established under section 1311 of title 

41, United States Code. 

(4) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ means the 

Department of Homeland Security. 

(5) HOMELAND SECURITY ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘Homeland Security Enterprise’’ has the meaning given the term 

in section 2211(h) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

U.S.C. 661(h)). 

(6) SCORECARD.—The term ‘‘scorecard’’ means the scorecard 

described in section 868(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (15 U.S.C. 644 note). 

(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

of Homeland Security. 

(8) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small business’’ means— 

(A) a qualified HUBZone small business concern, a 

small business concern, a small business concern owned 

and controlled by service-disabled veterans, or a small business concern owned and controlled by women, as those 

terms are defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act 

(15 U.S.C. 632); 

(B) a small business concern owned and controlled 

by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as 

defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act 

(15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)); or 

(C) a small business concern unconditionally owned 

by an economically disadvantaged Indian tribe or an 

economically disadvantaged Native Hawaiian organization 

that qualifies as a socially and economically disadvantaged 

small business concern, as defined in section 8(a)(4) of 

the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(4)). 

(9) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Secretary’’ means 

the Under Secretary for Management of the Department. 

SEC. 4. PROCUREMENT INNOVATION LAB REPORT. 

(a) REPORT.—The Under Secretary shall publish an annual 

report on a website of the Department on Procurement Innovation 

Lab projects that have used innovative techniques within the 

Department to accomplish— 

(1) improving or encouraging better competition; 
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(2) reducing time to award; 

(3) cost savings; 

(4) better mission outcomes; or 

(5) meeting the goals for contracts awarded to small business concerns under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act 

(15 U.S.C. 644(g)). 

(b) EDUCATION.—The Under Secretary shall develop and 

disseminate guidance and offer training for contracting officers, 

contracting specialists, program managers, and other personnel of 

the Department, as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary, 

concerning when and how to use the innovative procurement techniques of the Department. 

(c) BEST PRACTICES.—The Under Secretary shall share best 

practices across the Department and make available to other Federal agencies information to improve procurement methods and 

training, as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary. 

(d) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be effective on the 

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

SEC. 5. COUNCIL. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 45 days after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall convene the 

Council to examine best practices for acquisition innovation in 

contracting in the Federal Government, including small business 

contracting in accordance with the goals established under section 

15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)). 

(b) WORKING GROUP.—The Council may form a working group 

to address the requirements of this section, which, if formed, shall— 

(1) be chaired by the Administrator or a designee of the 

Administrator; and 

(2) be composed of— 

(A) the Chief Procurement Officer of the Department; 

(B) Council members from— 

(i) the General Services Administration; 

(ii) the Department of Defense; 

(iii) the Department of the Treasury; 

(iv) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

(v) the Department of Health and Human Services; 

(vi) the Small Business Administration; and 

(vii) such other Federal agencies as determined 

by the chair of the Council from among Federal agencies that have demonstrated significant, sustained 

progress using innovative acquisition practices and 

technologies, including for small business contracting, 

during each of the 3 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act; and 

(C) other employees, as determined appropriate by the 

chair of the Council, of Federal agencies with the requisite 

senior experience to make recommendations to improve 

Federal agency efficiency, effectiveness, and economy, 

including in promoting small business contracting. 

(c) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council, or a working group 

formed under subsection (b), shall— 

(1) convene not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and thereafter on a quarterly basis until 

the Council submits the report required under subsection (d)(1); 

and 
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(2) conduct outreach with the workforce and the public 

in meeting the requirements under subsection (d)(1). 

(d) REPORT.— 

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

of enactment of this Act, the Council shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that describes— 

(A) innovative acquisition practices and applications 

of technologies that have worked well in achieving better 

procurement outcomes, including increased efficiency, 

improved program outcomes, better customer experience, 

and meeting or exceeding the goals under section 15(g) 

of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)), and the 

reasons why those practices have succeeded; 

(B) steps to identify and adopt transformational 

commercial business practices, modernized data analytics, 

and advanced technologies that allow decision making to 

occur in a more friction-free buying environment and 

improve customer experience; and 

(C) any recommendations for statutory changes to 

accelerate the adoption of innovative acquisition practices. 

(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the 

appropriate congressional committees on the means by which 

the findings and recommendations of the report have been 

disseminated under paragraph (3). 

(3) PUBLICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF REPORT

FINDINGS.—To promote more rapid adoption of acquisition best 

practices, the Administrator shall— 

(A) publish the report required under paragraph (1) 

on the website of the Office of Management and Budget 

and on the Innovation Hub on the Acquisition Gateway 

or any successor Government-wide site available for 

increasing awareness of resources dedicated to procurement 

innovation; and 

(B) encourage the head of each Federal agency to maintain a site on the website of the Federal agency for acquisition and contracting professionals, program managers, 

members of the public, and others as appropriate that 

is— 

(i) dedicated to acquisition innovation; and 

(ii) identifies— 

(I) resources, including the acquisition innovation advocate and industry liaison of the Federal 

agency; 

(II) learning assets for the workforce, including 

the findings and recommendations made in the 

report required under paragraph (1); 

(III) events to build awareness and understanding of innovation activities; 

(IV) award recognition programs and recent 

recipients; and 

(V) upcoming plans to leverage innovative 

practices and technologies. 

(e) EXPERTS.—In carrying out the duties of the Council under 

this section, the Council is encouraged to consult with governmental 

and nongovernmental experts. 
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(f) TERMINATION.—The duties of the Council as set forth in 

this section shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the 

Council conducts the briefing required under subsection (d)(2). 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.