II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2608 

To ensure full partnership of small contractors in Federal disaster 

reconstruction efforts. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2006 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To ensure full partnership of small contractors in Federal 

disaster reconstruction efforts. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Part5 ners in Reconstruction Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

10 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

2 same meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business 

3 Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and 

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

5 and controlled by socially and economically disadvan6 taged individuals’’ has the same meaning as in sec7 tion 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637). 

8 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS PROCUREMENT FLEXIBILITIES; 

9 GOVERNMENT-WIDE GUIDANCE. 

10 Section 5 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 634) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) SMALL BUSINESS EMERGENCY PROCUREMENT

13 FLEXIBILITIES; GOVERNMENT-WIDE GUIDANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

15 ‘Guidelines’ means the guidelines entitled ‘Emer16 gency Procurement Flexibilities (A Framework for 

17 Responsive Contracting & Guidelines for Using Sim18 plified Acquisition Procedures)’ issued by the Office 

19 of Federal Procurement Policy of the Office of Man20 agement and Budget on May 30, 2003, or any suc21 cessor thereto. 

22 ‘‘(2) OFFICE OF FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POL23 ICY.—In order to enable the Federal Government to 

24 purchase goods and service quickly and efficiently in 

25 times of disaster, contingency, or other emergency, 


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1 while promoting small business concern utilization, 

2 the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) ensure that the Guidelines continue 

5 to strongly encourage that the Federal Govern6 ment utilize the small business procurement 

7 flexibilities in this Act; 

8 ‘‘(B) ensure that the Guidelines fully ad9 dress all available small business procurement 

10 flexibilities (including flexibilities authorized for 

11 small business concerns owned and controlled 

12 by socially and economically disadvantaged indi13 viduals under section 8(a), HUBZone small 

14 business concerns, and small business concerns 

15 owned and controlled by service-disabled vet16 erans); 

17 ‘‘(C) periodically revise, update, or modify 

18 the Guidelines; 

19 ‘‘(D) publish the Guidelines, as updated to 

20 comply with this paragraph, in the Federal 

21 Register; and 

22 ‘‘(E) consult with the Administrator on 

23 any changes to the Guidelines. 

24 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator 

25 shall, with regard to the Guidelines— 


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1 ‘‘(A) develop and conduct ongoing govern2 ment-wide training on small business emergency 

3 procurement flexibilities (including flexibilities 

4 authorized for small business concerns owned 

5 and controlled by socially and economically dis6 advantaged individuals under section 8(a), 

7 HUBZone small business concerns, and small 

8 business concerns owned and controlled by serv9 ice-disabled veterans); and 

10 ‘‘(B) designate not fewer than 1 official to 

11 provide advice and assistance to the Office of 

12 Federal Procurement Policy and other Federal 

13 agencies on the use of small business procure14 ment flexibilities in times of disaster, contin15 gency, or other emergency.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. PAPERWORK RECIPROCITY FOR SMALL DISASTER 

17 CONTRACTORS. 

18 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Administrator shall ensure that all eligible 

20 small business concerns receive the full benefit of reci21 procity in certifications between Federal and Federally22 funded contracting programs for small business concerns 

23 owned and controlled by socially and economically dis24 advantaged individuals. 


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1 SEC. 5. HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA SMALL BUSINESS 

2 CONTRACTING DATA. 

3 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procurement 

5 Policy and the Administrator shall ensure that the Federal 

6 Procurement Data System contains comprehensive Gov7 ernment-wide data on small business participation in con8 tracting related to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurri9 cane Rita of 2005. 

10 SEC. 6. DISASTER AREA HUBZONES. 

11 Section 3(p)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

12 632(p)(1)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

15 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(F) any area affected by Hurricane 

18 Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, for 

19 such time or in such geographic area as des20 ignated by the Administrator.’’. 

21 SEC. 7. DISASTER CONTRACTING OUTREACH PROGRAMS 

22 FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es25 tablish a contracting outreach and technical assistance 

26 program for small business concerns that— 


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1 (1) had a primary place of business, or other 

2 significant presence, in the area affected by Hurri3 cane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, as 

4 designated by the Administrator under section 

5 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act, beginning on the 

6 date that is 60 days before the date of that designa7 tion by the Administrator; or 

8 (2) have a primary place of business, or other 

9 significant presence, in the area affected by Hurri10 cane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, as 

11 designated by the Administrator under section 

12 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act, during the period 

13 beginning on the date of that designation and end14 ing on the date that is 5 years after the date of that 

15 designation. 

16 (b) ADMINISTRATOR ACTION.—The Administrator 

17 may fulfill the requirement of subsection (a) by acting 

18 through— 

19 (1) the Administration; 

20 (2) the Federal agency small business officials 

21 designated under section 15(k)(1) of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)(1)); and 

23 (3) any Federal, State, or local government en24 tity, higher education institution, Procurement Tech25 nical Assistance Center, or private nonprofit organiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:51 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2608.IS S2608

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1 zation that the Administrator determines is proper, 

2 upon conclusion of a memorandum of understanding 

3 or assistance agreement, as appropriate, with the 

4 Administrator. 

5 SEC. 8. SMALL BUSINESS BONDING THRESHOLD. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 

8 any procurement related to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or 

9 Hurricane Rita of 2005, the Administrator may, upon 

10 such terms and conditions as the Administrator may pre11 scribe, guarantee and enter into commitments to guar12 antee any surety against loss resulting from a breach of 

13 the terms of a bid bond, payment bond, performance bond, 

14 or bonds ancillary thereto, by a principal on any total work 

15 order or contract amount at the time of bond execution 

16 that does not exceed $5,000,000. 

17 (b) INCREASE OF AMOUNT.—Upon request of the 

18 head of any Federal agency other than the Administration 

19 involved in reconstruction efforts in response to Hurricane 

20 Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, the Adminis21 trator may guarantee and enter into a commitment to 

22 guarantee any security against loss under subsection (a) 

23 on any total work order or contract amount at the time 

24 of bond execution that does not exceed $10,000,000. 


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1 SEC. 9. FAIR SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION. 

2 In order to facilitate the maximum practicable par3 ticipation of small business concerns in activities related 

4 to relief and recovery from Hurricane Katrina of 2005 and 

5 Hurricane Rita of 2005, the Administrator and the head 

6 of any Federal agency making procurements related to the 

7 aftermath of Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane 

8 Rita of 2005, shall set a goal of awarding to small busi9 ness concerns not less than 30 percent of amounts ex10 pended for prime contracts and not less than 40 percent 

11 of amounts expended for subcontracts on procurements by 

12 such agency related to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina 

13 of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005, respectively. 

14 SEC. 10. PROTECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS RESERVATION. 

15 Section 15(j) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 644(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(4) For any contracts involving the use of the spe18 cial emergency procurement authority under section 

19 32A(c) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act 

20 (41 U.S.C. 428a(c)), the dollar ceiling of the small busi21 ness reservation established in paragraph (1) shall be ad22 justed to match the applicable amount of the simplified 

23 acquisition threshold.’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. SMALL BUSINESS MULTIPLE-AWARD DISASTER 

2 CONTRACTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator and the Ad4 ministrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall ensure 

5 that the Federal Government establishes and maintains 

6 multiple-award contracts with small business concerns of 

7 all categories on a nationwide and regional basis for the 

8 purpose of conducting or supporting Federal disaster re9 covery efforts. 

10 (b) REPORT.—At the end of each fiscal year, the Ad11 ministrator and the Administrator for Federal Procure12 ment Policy shall submit to Committee on Small Business 

13 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee 

14 on Small Business of the House of Representatives a re15 port describing the terms, conditions, and status of the 

16 contracts described in subsection (a) awarded during the 

17 preceding fiscal year. 

18 SEC. 12. TRANSPARENCY IN DISASTER SUBCONTRACTING. 

19 The Administrator and the head of each executive 

20 agency awarding recovery and reconstruction contracts re21 lated to Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 

22 2005 shall ensure that each such contract for which a 

23 small business subcontracting plan is required by law or 

24 contract terms contains a clause requiring the posting of 

25 subcontracting opportunities on the SUB-Net database es26 tablished by the Administration under section 8(e) of the 


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1 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)), or any successor 

2 thereto. 

3 SEC. 13. PROTECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS SUBCON4 TRACTING. 

5 Section 8(d)(4)(D) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 637(d)(4)(D)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘(D) No contract’’ and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No contract’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(ii) EMERGENCY PROCUREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For any con14 tract which otherwise meets the re15 quirements of this subsection, and 

16 which involves the use of special emer17 gency procurement authority under 

18 section 32A(c) of the Office of Fed19 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 

20 U.S.C. 428a(c)), the subcontracting 

21 plan required under this subsection 

22 shall be negotiated as soon as is prac23 ticable, but not later than 30 days 

24 after the date on which the contract is 

25 awarded. 


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1 ‘‘(II) PAYMENT.—Not greater 

2 than 50 percent of the amounts due 

3 under any contract described in sub4 clause (I) may be paid, unless a sub5 contracting plan compliant with this 

6 subsection is negotiated by the con7 tractor.’’. 

8 SEC. 14. CONTRACTING PRIORITY FOR LOCAL SMALL BUSI9 NESSES. 

10 Section 15(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 644(d)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘(d) For purposes’’ and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) CONTRACTING PRIORITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) DISASTER CONTRACTING PRIORITY IN

18 GENERAL.—The Administrator shall designate any 

19 disaster area as an area of concentrated unemploy20 ment or underemployment, or a labor surplus area 

21 for purposes of paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(3) LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

24 shall give priority in the awarding of contracts 


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1 and the placement of subcontracts for disaster 

2 relief to local small business concerns. 

3 ‘‘(B) OTHER AGENCIES.—The head of 

4 each executive agency shall give priority in the 

5 awarding of contracts and the placement of 

6 subcontracts for disaster relief to local small 

7 business concerns, by using, as appropriate— 

8 ‘‘(i) preferential factors in evaluations 

9 of contract bids and proposals; 

10 ‘‘(ii) competitions restricted to local 

11 small business concerns, where there is a 

12 reasonable expectation of receiving com13 petitive, reasonably priced bids or pro14 posals from not fewer than 2 local small 

15 business concerns; 

16 ‘‘(iii) requirements of preference for 

17 local small business concerns in subcon18 tracting plans; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) assessments of liquidated dam20 ages and other contractual penalties, in21 cluding contract termination. 

22 ‘‘(C) OTHER DISASTER ASSISTANCE.—Pri23 ority shall be given to local small business con24 cerns in the awarding of contracts and the 

25 placement of subcontracts for disaster relief in 


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1 any Federal procurement and any procurement 

2 by a State or local government made with Fed3 eral disaster assistance funds. 

4 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘declared disaster’ means 

6 Hurricane Katrina of 2005, Hurricane Rita of 

7 2005, or any other disaster, as designated by 

8 the Administrator; 

9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘disaster area’ means any 

10 State or area affected by a declared disaster, as 

11 determined by the Administrator; 

12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘executive agency’ has the 

13 same meaning as in section 105 of title 5, 

14 United States Code; and 

15 ‘‘(D) the term ‘local small business con16 cern’ means a small business concern that— 

17 ‘‘(i) on the date immediately pre18 ceding the date on which a declared dis19 aster occurred— 

20 ‘‘(I) had a principal office in the 

21 disaster area for such declared dis22 aster; and 

23 ‘‘(II) employed a majority of the 

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1 cern in the disaster area for such de2 clared disaster; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is capable of performing a sub4 stantial proportion of any contract or sub5 contract for disaster relief within the dis6 aster area for such declared disaster, as 

7 determined by the Administrator.’’. 

8 SEC. 15. RELIEF FROM TEST PROGRAM. 

9 Section 711(d) of the Small Business Competitive 

10 Demonstration Program Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 644 note) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘The Program’’ and inserting 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), the Program’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Program shall not 

18 apply to any contract related to relief or reconstruc19 tion from Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane 

20 Rita of 2005.’’. 

Æ 


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