I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2662

To amend the Small Business Act to modify the small business and capital

ownership development program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 15, 1993

Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself, Mr. MACHTLEY, Mr. MFUME, Ms. ROSLEHTINEN, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. TORRES, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

SERRANO, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. DELUGO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. PETERSON

of Minnesota, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. BILBRAY, and Mr. MATSUI

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Small Business

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to modify the small business and capital ownership development program, 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 ‘‘Business Improvement

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. BUSINESS ACTIVITY TARGETS.

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in ad8 ministering the small business and capital ownership de-
2

•HR 2662 IH

1 velopment program established by section 7(j)(10) of the

2 Small Business Act, the Administrator of the Small Busi3 ness Administration shall consider any contract awarded

4 to a program participant before the date of the enactment

5 of this Act under section 8(a)(1)(D) of such Act to be

6 a contract awarded other than pursuant to section 8(a)

7 of such Act for purposes of attainment of business activity

8 targets under regulations issued pursuant to section

9 7(j)(10)(I)(iii) of such Act.

10 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES.

11 Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637)

12 is amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following

13 new subsection:

14 ‘‘(c)(1) To facilitate the attainment of a participating

15 agency’s goal regarding the participation of small business

16 concerns owned and controlled by socially and economi17 cally disadvantaged individuals pursuant to section

18 15(g)(1), the head of a participating agency may enter

19 into contracts using—

20 ‘‘(A) less than full and open competition by re21 stricting the competition for such awards to such

22 small business concerns; or

23 ‘‘(B) a price evaluation preference of not more

24 than 10 percent when evaluating an offer received
3

•HR 2662 IH

1 from such a small business concern as the result of

2 an unrestricted solicitation.

3 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘par4 ticipating agency’ means any Federal agency, as defined

5 in section 3(b), other than the Department of Defense.

6 ‘‘(3) The authority provided for in paragraph (1)

7 shall remain in effect until September 30, 2000.’’.

8 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF PAST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

9 PARTICIPANTS FOR SECTION 8(a) CONTRACT

10 AWARDS.

11 Section (8)(a)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act (15

12 U.S.C. 637(a)(1)(C)) is amended to read as follows:

13 ‘‘(C) to make an award to a small business con14 cern owned and controlled by socially and economi15 cally disadvantaged individuals which has completed

16 its period of Program Participation as prescribed by

17 section 7(j)(15) if—

18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a competitive award, the

19 prospective contract awardee was a Program

20 Participant eligible for award of the contract on

21 the date specified for receipt of offers contained

22 in the contract solicitation; and

23 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a sole source award, the

24 prospective contract awardee was a Program

25 Participant eligible for award of the contract on
4

•HR 2662 IH

1 the date that the prospective awardee submitted

2 certifications and representations for the con3 tract to the contracting agency.’’.

4 SEC. 5. ELIMINATING COMPETITIVE CONTRACTS UNDER

5 SECTION 8(a).

6 Section 8(a)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

7 637(a)(1)) is amended—

8 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking the semi9 colon and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (2) by striking subparagraph (D).

11 SEC. 6. CONTINUED ACCESS TO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.

12 Section 8(a)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

13 637(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(E)(i) A contract to furnish products or serv15 ices to a participating agency shall be competed pur16 suant to clause (ii) if—

17 ‘‘(I) there is a reasonable expectation of

18 receiving offers from 2 or more eligible small

19 business concerns owned and controlled by so20 cially and economically disadvantaged individ21 uals which are capable of performing the con22 tract;

23 ‘‘(II) a contract to furnish the same (or

24 substantially similar) products or services is
5

•HR 2662 IH

1 being performed under a contract awarded pur2 suant to this subsection; and

3 ‘‘(III) the contractor currently performing

4 the contract referred to in subclause (II) will

5 have graduated from the small business and

6 capital ownership development program author7 ized by section 7(j)(10) prior to the date of is8 suance of the solicitation for such contract.

9 ‘‘(ii) The head of a participating agency shall

10 restrict the competition for the award of a contract

11 described in clause (i) to small business concerns

12 owned and controlled by socially and economically

13 disadvantaged individuals upon the request of the

14 small business concern described in clause (i)(III).

15 ‘‘(iii) A small business concern described in

16 clause (i)(III) shall be eligible for award of a con17 tract resulting from a restricted competition de18 scribed in clause (ii) if such small business concern

19 has entered into (and the contracting officer ac20 cepts) an agreement to subcontract not less than 20

21 percent and not more than 50 percent of the award

22 value of the contract to 1 or more small business

23 concerns in the developmental stage of the minority

24 small business and capital ownership development

25 program, as described in section 7(j)(15)(A).
6

•HR 2662 IH

1 ‘‘(iv) The head of a participating agency award2 ing a contract pursuant to clause (ii) shall ensure

3 that, following completion of a contract awarded

4 pursuant to clause (ii), any follow-on contract for

5 the same (or substantially similar) products or serv6 ices will be furnished pursuant to a contract award7 ed under the authority of this subsection.

8 ‘‘(v) For the purposes of this section, the term

9 ‘participating agency’ means any Federal agency, as

10 defined in section 3(b) of this Act.

11 ‘‘(vi) For the purposes of this section, the term

12 ‘small business’ means a business concern with not

13 more than 1500 employees.’’.

14 SEC. 7. STUDY OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM PARTICIPA15 TION TERMS BY INDUSTRY SECTOR; SUSPEN16 SION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM GRADUA17 TIONS.

18 (a) STUDY.—Section 10 of the Small Business Act

19 (15 U.S.C. 639) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing:

21 ‘‘(i) The Administration shall authorize a short-term

22 study to determine the appropriate program participation

23 term by industry sector for small business concerns par24 ticipating in the program authorized by section 7(j)(10)

25 and transmit the results of such study to the President
7

•HR 2662 IH

1 of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representa2 tives, and the Committees on Small Business of the Senate

3 and the House of Representatives not later than 1 year

4 after the date of the enactment of this subsection.’’.

5 (b) SUSPENSION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM GRAD6 UATIONS.—Section 7(j)(10)(C) of such Act (15 U.S.C.

7 636(j)(10)(C)) is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii);

9 and

10 (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following

11 new clause:

12 ‘‘(ii) A small business concern participating in

13 any program or activity conducted under the author14 ity of this paragraph or eligible for the award of

15 contracts pursuant to section 8(a) on October 1,

16 1992, shall be permitted continued participation and

17 eligibility in such program or activity until the latter

18 of—

19 ‘‘(I) 365 days after the date on which final

20 regulations are issued to implement a law es21 tablishing appropriate terms for participation in

22 the Program by industry sector based on the

23 study conducted pursuant to section 10(i); or
8

•HR 2662 IH

1 ‘‘(II) the date on which such participation

2 and eligibility would otherwise expire pursuant

3 to the requirements of this subsection.’’.

4 SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH BUY INDIAN ACT.

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a Fed6 eral agency contracts with the Small Business Administra7 tion under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15

8 U.S.C. 637(a)) for the acquisition of goods or services to

9 be supplied by a small business concern owned and con10 trolled by members of an economically disadvantaged In11 dian tribe (or a wholly owned business entity of such tribe)

12 such acquisition shall be considered to be in compliance

13 with section 23 of the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat.

14 861; 25 U.S.C. 47; popularly known as the ‘‘Buy Indian

15 Act’’).

16 SEC. 9. UNIFORM PROCEDURES FOR CONTESTING STATUS

17 OF CONCERNS.

18 Section 16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645)

19 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub20 section:

21 ‘‘(g) Not later than 120 days after the date of the

22 enactment of this subsection, the Administrator, in co23 operation with participating agencies, shall establish uni24 form procedures for contesting the status of a concern as
9

•HR 2662 IH

1 a ‘small business concern owned and controlled by socially

2 and economically disadvantaged individuals’.’’.

Æ