IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 190 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTING AUTHORITY FOR 

5 CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

6 (a) QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS CON7 CERNS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 31(b)(2) of the 

8 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a(b)(2)) is amended 

9 to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—A con11 tracting officer may award sole source contracts 

12 under this section to any qualified HUBZone 

13 small business concern, if— 

14 ‘‘(i) the qualified HUBZone small 

15 business concern is determined to be a re16 sponsible contractor with respect to per17 formance of such contract opportunity; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the contracting officer does not 

19 have a reasonable expectation that two or 

20 more qualified HUBZone small business 

21 concerns will submit offers for the con22 tracting opportunity; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the anticipated award price of 

24 the contract will not exceed— 

25 ‘‘(I) $7,000,000, in the case of a 

26 contract opportunity assigned a standVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190

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1 ard industrial classification code for 

2 manufacturing; or 

3 ‘‘(II) $4,000,000, in the case of 

4 all other contract opportunities; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) in the estimation of the con6 tracting officer, the contract award can be 

7 made at a fair and reasonable price.’’. 

8 (b) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND CON9 TROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—Sub10 section (a) of section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 657f) is amended to read as follows: 

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

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

14 contract to any small business concern owned and con15 trolled by service-disabled veterans if— 

16 ‘‘(1) such concern is determined to be a respon17 sible contractor with respect to performance of such 

18 contract opportunity; 

19 ‘‘(2) the contracting officer does not have a rea20 sonable expectation that two or more small business 

21 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 

22 veterans will submit offers for the contracting oppor23 tunity; 

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

25 will not exceed— 


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HR 190 RFS

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

2 opportunity assigned a standard industrial clas3 sification code for manufacturing; or 

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

5 contract opportunity; 

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

7 the contract award can be made at a fair and rea8 sonable price; 

9 ‘‘(5) the contracting officer has notified the Ad10 ministration of the intent to make such award and 

11 requested that the Administration determine the 

12 concern’s eligibility for award; and 

13 ‘‘(6) the Administration has determined that 

14 such concern is eligible for award.’’. 

15 (c) CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

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

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

18 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON21 TRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

22 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON23 TROLLED BY WOMEN.—A contracting officer may 

24 award a sole source contract under this subsection 

25 to any small business concern owned and controlled 


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1 by women described in paragraph (2)(A) and cer2 tified under paragraph (2)(E) if— 

3 ‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 

4 responsible contractor with respect to perform5 ance of the contract opportunity; 

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

7 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi8 nesses described in paragraph (2)(A) will sub9 mit offers; 

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

11 contract will not exceed— 

12 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con13 tract opportunity assigned a standard in14 dustrial classification code for manufac15 turing; or 

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

17 other contract opportunity; 

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

19 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

20 fair and reasonable price; 

21 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

22 the Administration of the intent to make such 

23 award and requested that the Administration 

24 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 

2 that such concern is eligible for award.’’; and 

3 (2) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(8) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON6 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

7 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN IN SUBSTANTIALLY

8 UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.—A contracting 

9 officer may award a sole source contract under this 

10 subsection to any small business concern owned and 

11 controlled by women certified under paragraph 

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

13 concerns owned and controlled by women are sub14 stantially underrepresented (as determined by the 

15 Administrator under paragraph (3)) if— 

16 ‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 

17 responsible contractor with respect to perform18 ance of the contract opportunity; 

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

20 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi21 nesses in an industry that has received a waiver 

22 under paragraph (3) will submit offers; 

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

24 contract will not exceed— 


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1 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con2 tract opportunity assigned a standard in3 dustrial classification code for manufac4 turing; or 

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

6 other contract opportunity; 

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

8 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

9 fair and reasonable price; 

10 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

11 the Administration of the intent to make such 

12 award and requested that the Administration 

13 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 

16 that such concern is eligible for award.’’. 

17 (d) ELIMINATION OF THE INCLUSION OF OPTION

18 YEARS IN THE AWARD PRICE FOR CONTRACTS.—Section 

19 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) is amended 

20 by striking ‘‘(including options)’’ each place such term ap21 pears. 

22 SEC. 3. SBA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM NOTIFICATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small 

24 Business Administration shall notify the Committee on 

25 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

2 the Senate when the Administrator has implemented each 

3 of the following: 

4 (1) A program to certify small business con5 cerns owned and controlled by women (as defined in 

6 section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 637(m))). 

8 (2) A program to certify small business con9 cerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet10 erans (as defined in section 3(q)(1) of the Small 

11 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q))). 

12 (b) ADDITIONAL NOTICE.—The Administrator of the 

13 Small Business Administration shall submit a copy of a 

14 notification required under subsection (a) to the Law Re15 vision Counsel of the House of Representatives so that the 

16 Law Revision Counsel may execute the amendments re17 quired under section 4. 

18 SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION UPON 

19 IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATION PRO20 GRAMS. 

21 Effective upon the notification described under sec22 tion 3, the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) in section 8(m)— 

25 (A) in paragraph (7)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (C), by adding 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

4 the semicolon at the end and inserting a 

5 period; and 

6 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (E) 

7 and (F); and 

8 (B) in paragraph (8)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (C), by adding 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

12 the semicolon at the end and inserting a 

13 period; and 

14 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (E) 

15 and (F); and 

16 (2) in section 36(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) and (6). 

22 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

23 (a) STUDY.—With respect to the procurement pro24 grams of the Small Business Administration for small 

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1 fined in section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 637(m))) and for small business concerns owned and con3 trolled by service-disabled veterans (as defined in section 

4 3(q)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q))), 

5 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con6 duct an evaluation of the policies and practices used by 

7 the Administration and other Federal agencies to provide 

8 assurances that contracting officers are properly classify9 ing sole source awards under those programs in the Fed10 eral Procurement Data System and that sole source con11 tracts awarded under those programs are being awarded 

12 to eligible concerns. 

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

14 Small Business Administration implements the certifi15 cation programs described under section 3, the Comp16 troller General shall issue a report to the Committee on 

17 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

19 the Senate containing the findings made in carrying out 

20 the study required under subsection (a). 

21 (c) SBA CONSIDERATION OF GAO REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

23 Small Business Administration shall review the re24 port issued under subsection (b) and take such ac25 tions as the Administrator may determine approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jan 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.RFS H190

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1 priate to address any concerns raised in such report 

2 and any recommendations contained in such report. 

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

4 described under paragraph (1), the Administrator 

5 shall issue a report to Congress— 

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 such concerns or im11 plement such recommendations. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 16, 

2019. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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