89–010 

Calendar No. 633 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–414 

VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 

2018 

DECEMBER 5, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. RISCH, from the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2679] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to 

which was referred the bill (S. 2679) to provide access to and manage the distribution of excess or surplus property to veteran-owned 

small businesses, having considered the same, reports favorably 

thereon with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass. 

I. INTRODUCTION

A bill to provide access to and manage the distribution of excess 

or surplus property to veteran-owned small businesses (S. 2679) 

was introduced by Senator Richard J. Durbin on behalf of Senator 

Tammy Duckworth, for herself, and Senator John Kennedy on 

April 16, 2018. Other cosponsors include Senator Jon Tester, Senator Tim Kaine, and Senator Maria Cantwell. 

This bill directs the Small Business Administration (SBA), in coordination with the General Services Administration (GSA) and 

state surplus agencies to allow veteran-owned small businesses to 

be eligible to receive surplus federal property. 

During the markup of the bill, the Duckworth substitute amendment to the bill was approved unanimously by a roll call vote as 

part of a manager’s package. The Duckworth amendment is a clarifying amendment that references United States Code to better define the terms ‘‘state agency’’ and ‘‘foreign excess property.’’ The 

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1Government Accountability Office Report 18–257, February 16, 2018. 

bill, as amended, was also approved unanimously by a roll call vote 

as part of a manager’s package. 

II. HISTORY (PURPOSE & NEED FOR LEGISLATION)

SBA and GSA define veteran-owned small businesses as those 

independently owned and operated by an honorably discharged veteran that meet the size standard eligibility. Eligibility varies from 

industry to industry and is based on the average number of employees for the preceding twelve months or on the business’s average gross revenue over a three year period. 

In Fiscal Year 2016 the GSA facilitated the disposal of more than 

160,000 personal property items.1 If surplus property is not 

claimed or donated, the federal government must pay to dispose of 

it. The GSA administered surplus property program makes excess 

federal property, such as vehicles, computers, office equipment, 

tools, heavy construction equipment, and any property not considered ‘‘real property’’, available to non-profit organizations at no cost 

except shipping and handling. Because small businesses are forprofit organizations, they do not fall under 40 U.S.C. § 549, which 

regulates the federal surplus property program. However, through 

the program’s partnership with SBA’s 8a program, minority-owned 

small business owners have participated in the federal surplus 

property program since 1999. 

The legislation would amend the Small Business Act to direct the 

SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development to provide access 

to and manage the distribution of excess or surplus federal property to veteran-owned small businesses. It is currently not possible 

to simply add veterans-owned small businesses to the list of eligible participants. Rather, the SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development would work with each state and the GSA to establish a 

memorandum of agreement allowing eligible businesses to work 

with state agencies for surplus property to acquire property in a 

manner similar to how minority-owned businesses utilize the program. 

In the 114th Congress Senator Richard J. Durbin and the Committee’s Chairman, Senator David Vitter introduced similar legislation, the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2015. The 

Committee favorably reported the bill by voice vote, but it did not 

receive consideration by the full Senate. 

III. HEARINGS & ROUNDTABLES

In the 115th Congress the Committee held a hearing on May 15, 

2018 entitled, ‘‘The State of Small Business in America: An update 

from the U.S. Small Business Administration.’’ In her questions for 

the record Senator Duckworth asked Administrator McMahon if 

she would support S. 2679. The Administrator responded that she 

would work with the Senator and would provide comments to Senator Duckworth on how to ensure that the SBA can properly manage the program. 

IV. DESCRIPTION OF BILL

This bill would direct the SBA, GSA, and various state agencies 

for surplus property to enter into memorandums of agreement to 

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allow veteran-owned small businesses to be eligible to receive surplus federal property. This change in the law would simply add veteran-owned small businesses to the list of entities that can receive 

this property. Currently, the only for-profit organizations that can 

receive surplus property are minority-owned small businesses that 

utilize SBA’s 8(a) contracting program. 

V. COMMITTEE VOTE

In compliance with rule XXVI (7)(b) of the Standing Rules of the 

Senate, the following vote was recorded on October 11, 2018. 

A motion to adopt S. 2679, a bill to provide access to and manage 

the distribution of excess or surplus property to veteran-owned 

small businesses, as amended by the Duckworth substitute amendment, was approved unanimously by a roll call vote as part of a 

manager’s package. Senators Risch, Rubio, Paul, Scott, Ernst, 

Inhofe, Young, Enzi, Rounds, Kennedy, Cardin, Cantwell, Shaheen, 

Heitkamp, Markey, Booker, Coons, Hirono, and Duckworth voted 

for the bill. 

VI. COST ESTIMATE

In compliance with rule XXVI (11)(a)(1) of the Standing Rules of 

the Senate, the Committee estimates the cost of the legislation will 

be will be equal to the amounts discussed in the following letter 

from the Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, November 16, 2018. 

Hon. JAMES E. RISCH, 

Chairman, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2679, the Veterans Small 

Business Enhancement Act of 2018. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Stephen Rabent. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

S. 2679—Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2018 

Under current law, the General Services Administration (GSA) is 

responsible for the management and distribution of surplus federal 

personal property. Some of that property is transferred to state 

agencies for distribution to certain qualifying entities. S. 2679 

would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA), in coordination with GSA, to provide small businesses owned and controlled 

by veterans with access to surplus personal property and foreign 

excess personal property. 

Using information from the SBA and GSA, CBO estimates that 

implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000 for the GSA 

to expand the scope of its current activities to include the management and transfer of property to small businesses owned and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 Dec 08, 2018 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR414.XXX SR414
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trolled by veterans through a memorandum of agreement with the 

SBA. 

Under the bill, GSA may transfer surplus equipment that it otherwise could sell under current law. The proceeds of those sales are 

recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts, which are treated as 

reductions in direct spending. Using information from GSA, CBO 

expects that adding a new group of entities to those already eligible 

to receive surplus property would increase competition for that 

property; however, we expect that such competition would not substantially reduce the amounts of surplus property, generally the 

least desirable items, that would eventually be sold to the public. 

Because enacting S. 2679 could reduce offsetting receipts, pay-asyou-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that those forgone receipts would be insignificant. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 2679 would not significantly increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 

consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. 

S. 2679 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandate 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Stephen Rabent. The 

estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

In compliance with rule XXVI(11)(b) of the Standing Rules of the 

Senate, it is the opinion of the Committee that no significant additional regulatory impact will be incurred in carrying out the provisions of this legislation. 

VIII. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1: Short title 

This section designates the act as the ‘‘Veterans Small Business 

Enhancement Act of 2018’’. 

Sec. 2: Access to surplus property for veteran-owned small businesses 

This section defines the terms ‘‘foreign excess property’’ and 

‘‘state agency’’. The section also directs the SBA, GSA, and state 

agencies for surplus property to allow veteran-owned and controlled 

small businesses to be eligible to receive federal surplus property 

and foreign excess property through memorandums of agreement. 

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