II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2481 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide authority for sole source contracts for certain small business concerns owned and controlled by 

women, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2014 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide authority for 

sole source contracts for certain small business concerns 

owned and controlled by women, 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 ‘‘Women’s Small Busi5 ness Procurement Parity Act’’. 


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•S 2481 IS

1 SEC. 2. SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR CERTAIN SMALL 

2 BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON3 TROLLED BY WOMEN. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(m) of the Small Busi5 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

7 (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘(2)(F)’’ each 

9 place it appears and inserting ‘‘(2)(E)’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON12 TRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

13 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON14 TROLLED BY WOMEN IN UNDERREPRESENTED IN15 DUSTRIES.—A contracting officer may award a sole 

16 source contract under this subsection to a small 

17 business concern owned and controlled by women 

18 that meets the requirements under paragraph (2)(A) 

19 if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the small business concern owned and 

21 controlled by women is in an industry in which 

22 small business concerns owned and controlled 

23 by women are underrepresented, as determined 

24 by the Administrator; 

25 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer determines 

26 that the small business concern owned and conVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jun 19, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2481.IS S2481

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1 trolled by women is a responsible contractor 

2 with respect to performance of the contract op3 portunity; 

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

5 contract, including options, is not more than— 

6 ‘‘(i) $6,500,000, in the case of a con7 tract opportunity assigned a North Amer8 ican Industry Classification System code 

9 for manufacturing; or 

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

11 other contract opportunity; and 

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

13 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

14 fair and reasonable price. 

15 ‘‘(8) AUTHORITY FOR SOLE SOURCE CON16 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED

17 AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN IN SUBSTANTIALLY

18 UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.—A contracting 

19 officer may award a sole source contract under this 

20 subsection to a small business concern owned and 

21 controlled by women that meets the requirements 

22 under paragraph (2)(E) if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the small business concern owned and 

24 controlled by women is in an industry in which 

25 small business concerns owned and controlled 


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1 by women are substantially underrepresented, 

2 as determined by the Administrator; 

3 ‘‘(B) the contracting officer determines 

4 that the small business concern owned and con5 trolled by women is a responsible contractor 

6 with respect to performance of the contract op7 portunity; 

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

9 contract, including options, is not more than— 

10 ‘‘(i) $6,500,000, in the case of a con11 tract opportunity assigned a North Amer12 ican Industry Classification System code 

13 for manufacturing; or 

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

15 other contract opportunity; and 

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

17 officer, the contract award can be made at a 

18 fair and reasonable price.’’. 

19 (b) REPORTING ON GOALS FOR SOLE SOURCE CON20 TRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND

21 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—Section 15(h)(2)(E)(viii) of 

22 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(h)(2)(E)(viii)) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in subclause (IV), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subclause (V) as subclause 

2 (VIII); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subclause (IV) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(V) through sole source con6 tracts awarded under section 8(m)(7); 

7 ‘‘(VI) through sole source con8 tracts awarded under section 8(m)(8); 

9 ‘‘(VII) by industry for contracts 

10 described in subclause (III), (IV), (V), 

11 or (VI); and’’. 

12 (c) DEADLINE FOR REPORT ON UNDERREP13 RESENTED INDUSTRIES ACCELERATED.—Section 

14 29(o)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(o)(2)) 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘5 years after the date of enact17 ment of this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘January 2, 

18 2015’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘5-year period’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘2-year or 5-year period, as applicable,’’. 

Æ 


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