I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 190 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mr. SCHNEIDER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTING AUTHORITY FOR 

7 CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

8 (a) QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS CON9 CERNS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 31(b)(2) of the 


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

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—A con4 tracting officer may award sole source contracts 

5 under this section to any qualified HUBZone 

6 small business concern, if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the qualified HUBZone small 

8 business concern is determined to be a re9 sponsible contractor with respect to per10 formance of such contract opportunity; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the contracting officer does not 

12 have a reasonable expectation that two or 

13 more qualified HUBZone small business 

14 concerns will submit offers for the con15 tracting opportunity; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the anticipated award price of 

17 the contract will not exceed— 

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

19 contract opportunity assigned a stand20 ard industrial classification code for 

21 manufacturing; or 

22 ‘‘(II) $4,000,000, in the case of 

23 all other contract opportunities; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) in the estimation of the con2 tracting officer, the contract award can be 

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

4 (b) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND CON5 TROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—Sub6 section (a) of section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 

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

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

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

10 contract to any small business concern owned and con11 trolled by service-disabled veterans if— 

12 ‘‘(1) such concern is determined to be a respon13 sible contractor with respect to performance of such 

14 contract opportunity; 

15 ‘‘(2) the contracting officer does not have a rea16 sonable expectation that two or more small business 

17 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 

18 veterans will submit offers for the contracting oppor19 tunity; 

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

21 will not exceed— 

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

23 opportunity assigned a standard industrial clas24 sification code for manufacturing; or 


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

2 contract opportunity; 

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

4 the contract award can be made at a fair and rea5 sonable price; 

6 ‘‘(5) the contracting officer has notified the Ad7 ministration of the intent to make such award and 

8 requested that the Administration determine the 

9 concern’s eligibility for award; and 

10 ‘‘(6) the Administration has determined that 

11 such concern is eligible for award.’’. 

12 (c) CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

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

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

15 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON18 TRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

19 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON20 TROLLED BY WOMEN.—A contracting officer may 

21 award a sole source contract under this subsection 

22 to any small business concern owned and controlled 

23 by women described in paragraph (2)(A) and cer24 tified under paragraph (2)(E) if— 


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

2 responsible contractor with respect to perform3 ance of the contract opportunity; 

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

5 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi6 nesses described in paragraph (2)(A) will sub7 mit offers; 

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

9 contract will not exceed— 

10 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con11 tract opportunity assigned a standard in12 dustrial classification code for manufac13 turing; or 

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

15 other contract opportunity; 

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

17 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

18 fair and reasonable price; 

19 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

20 the Administration of the intent to make such 

21 award and requested that the Administration 

22 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 

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


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1 (2) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(8) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON4 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

5 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN IN SUBSTANTIALLY

6 UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.—A contracting 

7 officer may award a sole source contract under this 

8 subsection to any small business concern owned and 

9 controlled by women certified under paragraph 

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

11 concerns owned and controlled by women are sub12 stantially underrepresented (as determined by the 

13 Administrator under paragraph (3)) if— 

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

15 responsible contractor with respect to perform16 ance of the contract opportunity; 

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

18 a reasonable expectation that two or more busi19 nesses in an industry that has received a waiver 

20 under paragraph (3) will submit offers; 

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

22 contract will not exceed— 

23 ‘‘(i) $7,000,000, in the case of a con24 tract opportunity assigned a standard inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.IH H190

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1 dustrial classification code for manufac2 turing; or 

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

4 other contract opportunity; 

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

6 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

7 fair and reasonable price; 

8 ‘‘(E) the contracting officer has notified 

9 the Administration of the intent to make such 

10 award and requested that the Administration 

11 determine the concern’s eligibility for award; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(F) the Administration has determined 

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

15 (d) ELIMINATION OF THE INCLUSION OF OPTION

16 YEARS IN THE AWARD PRICE FOR CONTRACTS.—Section 

17 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) is amended 

18 by striking ‘‘(including options)’’ each place such term ap19 pears. 

20 SEC. 3. SBA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM NOTIFICATION. 

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

22 Business Administration shall notify the Committee on 

23 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 


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1 the Senate when the Administrator has implemented each 

2 of the following: 

3 (1) A program to certify small business con4 cerns owned and controlled by women (as defined in 

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

6 637(m))). 

7 (2) A program to certify small business con8 cerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet9 erans (as defined in section 3(q)(1) of the Small 

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

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

12 Small Business Administration shall submit a copy of a 

13 notification required under subsection (a) to the Law Re14 vision Counsel of the House of Representatives so that the 

15 Law Revision Counsel may execute the amendments re16 quired under section 4. 

17 SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION UPON 

18 IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTIFICATION PRO19 GRAMS. 

20 Effective upon the notification described under sec21 tion 3, the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in section 8(m)— 

24 (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 

25 business concerns owned and controlled by women (as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jan 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.IH H190

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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 21:52 Jan 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H190.IH 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. 

Æ 


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