II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2247 

To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified 

acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies 

in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2014 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess 

of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor 

or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, 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 ‘‘Contracting and Tax 

5 Accountability Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY. 

2 It is the policy of the United States Government that 

3 no Government contracts or grants should be awarded to 

4 individuals or companies with seriously delinquent Federal 

5 tax debts. 

6 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF CONTRACT OF7 FERS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL DEBT8 ORS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any executive agency 

10 that issues an invitation for bids or a request for proposals 

11 for a contract in an amount greater than the simplified 

12 acquisition threshold shall require each person that sub13 mits a bid or proposal to submit with the bid or proposal 

14 a form— 

15 (1) certifying whether the person has a seri16 ously delinquent tax debt; and 

17 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

18 disclose to the head of the agency information lim19 ited to describing whether the person has a seriously 

20 delinquent tax debt. 

21 (b) IMPACT ON RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION.— 

22 The head of any executive agency, in evaluating any offer 

23 received in response to a solicitation issued by the agency 

24 for bids or proposals for a contract, shall consider a certifi25 cation that the offeror has a seriously delinquent tax debt, 

26 or a certification that the offeror does not have a seriously 


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1 delinquent tax debt that is demonstrated to be false by 

2 information received from the Secretary of the Treasury 

3 (as authorized under subsection (a)(2)), to be definitive 

4 proof that the offeror is not a responsible source as de5 fined in section 113 of title 41, United States Code. 

6 (c) SUSPENSION.— 

7 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

8 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

9 propose a person for suspension under subpart 9.4 

10 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation after receiving 

11 an offer for a contract from such person if such 

12 offer contains a certification (as required under sub13 section (a)(1)) that such person has a seriously de14 linquent tax debt. 

15 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

16 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

17 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel18 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter19 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

20 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

21 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

22 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

23 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

24 supporting the waiver decision. 

25 (d) DEBARMENT.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

3 propose a person for debarment after receiving an 

4 offer for a contract from such person if— 

5 (A) such offer contains a certification (as 

6 required under subsection (a)(1)) that such per7 son does not have a seriously delinquent tax 

8 debt; and 

9 (B) the head of the agency receives infor10 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

11 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) dem12 onstrating that the certification submitted by 

13 such person is false. 

14 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

15 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

16 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel17 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter18 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

19 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

20 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

21 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

22 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

23 supporting the waiver decision. 

24 (e) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

25 the Treasury shall make available to all executive agencies 


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1 a standard form for the authorization described in sub2 section (a). 

3 (f) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

4 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

5 Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to incor6 porate the requirements of this section. 

7 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLI8 CATIONS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL 

9 DEBTORS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any executive agency 

11 that offers a grant in excess of an amount equal to the 

12 simplified acquisition threshold shall require each person 

13 applying for a grant to submit with the grant application 

14 a form— 

15 (1) certifying whether the person has a seri16 ously delinquent tax debt; and 

17 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

18 disclose to the head of the executive agency informa19 tion limited to describing whether the person has a 

20 seriously delinquent tax debt. 

21 (b) IMPACT ON DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL STA22 BILITY.—The head of any executive agency, in evaluating 

23 any application for a grant offered by the agency, shall 

24 consider a certification that the grant applicant has a seri25 ously delinquent tax debt, or a certification that the offerVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:03 Apr 18, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2247.IS S2247

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1 or does not have a seriously delinquent tax debt that is 

2 demonstrated to be false by information received from the 

3 Secretary of the Treasury (as authorized under subsection 

4 (a)(2)), to be definitive proof that the applicant is high5 risk and, if the applicant is awarded the grant, shall take 

6 appropriate measures under guidelines issued by the Of7 fice of Management and Budget for enhanced oversight 

8 of high-risk grantees. 

9 (c) SUSPENSION.— 

10 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

11 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

12 propose a person for suspension under part 180 of 

13 title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, after receiving 

14 an offer for a grant from such person if such offer 

15 contains a certification (as required under subsection 

16 (a)(1)) that such person has a seriously delinquent 

17 tax debt. 

18 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

19 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

20 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel21 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter22 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

23 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

24 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

25 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 


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1 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

2 supporting the waiver decision. 

3 (d) DEBARMENT.— 

4 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

5 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

6 propose a person for debarment under part 180 of 

7 title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, after receiving 

8 a grant application from such person if— 

9 (A) such application contains a certifi10 cation (as required under subsection (a)(1)) 

11 that such person does not have a seriously de12 linquent tax debt; and 

13 (B) the head of the agency receives infor14 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

15 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) dem16 onstrating that the certification submitted by 

17 such person is false. 

18 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

19 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

20 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel21 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter22 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

23 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

24 of the agency shall submit to the appropriate con25 gressional committees, within 30 days after the 


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1 waiver is made, a report containing the rationale for 

2 the waiver and relevant information supporting the 

3 waiver decision. 

4 (e) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

5 the Treasury shall make available to all executive agencies 

6 a standard form for the authorization described in sub7 section (a). 

8 (f) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

10 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

11 revise such regulations as necessary to incorporate the re12 quirements of this section. 

13 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. 

14 For purposes of this Act: 

15 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com17 mittees’’ means— 

18 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov21 ernment Reform of the House of Representa22 tives; and 

23 (C) the committees of the Senate and the 

24 House of Representatives with jurisdiction over 


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1 the agency granting the waiver under section 

2 4(c)(2). 

3 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

4 agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

5 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

6 (3) PERSON.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in8 cludes— 

9 (i) an individual; 

10 (ii) a partnership; and 

11 (iii) a corporation. 

12 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘person’’ does 

13 not include an individual seeking assistance 

14 through a grant entitlement program. 

15 (C) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARTNER16 SHIPS.—A partnership shall be treated as a 

17 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

18 such partnership has a partner who— 

19 (i) holds an ownership interest of 50 

20 percent or more in that partnership; and 

21 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

22 debt. 

23 (D) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CORPORA24 TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 

25 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 


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1 such corporation has an officer or a shareholder 

2 who— 

3 (i) holds 50 percent or more, or a con4 trolling interest that is less than 50 per5 cent, of the outstanding shares of cor6 porate stock in that corporation; and 

7 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

8 debt. 

9 (4) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de11 linquent tax debt’’ means an outstanding debt 

12 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 

13 which a notice of lien has been filed in public 

14 records pursuant to section 6323 of such Code. 

15 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in16 clude— 

17 (i) a debt that is being paid in a time18 ly manner pursuant to an agreement under 

19 section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 

20 and 

21 (ii) a debt with respect to which a col22 lection due process hearing under section 

23 6330 of such Code, or relief under sub24 section (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 

25 such Code, is requested or pending. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall apply with respect to contracts and 

3 grants awarded on or after the date occurring 270 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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