Small Business Fairness Act

To amend the Small Business Act to provide for team and joint venture offers for certain contracts. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Small Business Fairness Act 2. Joint venturing and teaming (a) Joint venture offers for bundled or consolidated contracts Section 15(e)(4) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 644(e)(4) (4) Contract teaming (A) In general In the case of a solicitation of offers for a bundled or consolidated contract that is issued by the head of an agency, a small business concern may submit an offer that provides for use of a particular team of subcontractors or a joint venture of small business concerns for the performance of the contract. (B) Evaluation of offers The head of an agency shall evaluate the offer of a team or a joint venture of small business concerns submitted under subparagraph (A) in the same manner as other offers, with due consideration to the capabilities of all of the proposed subcontractors or members of the joint venture. (i) Teams When evaluating an offer of a small business prime contractor that includes a proposed team of subcontractors, the head of the agency shall consider the capabilities and past performance of each first tier subcontractor that is part of the team as the capabilities and past performance of the team. (ii) Joint ventures When evaluating an offer of a joint venture of small business concerns, if the joint venture does not have sufficient capabilities or past performance to be considered for award of a contract opportunity, the head of the agency shall consider the capabilities and past performance of each member of the joint venture as the capabilities and past performance of the joint venture. (C) Status as a small business concern Participation of a small business concern in a team or a joint venture under this paragraph shall not affect the status of that concern as a small business concern with respect to the performance of a contract described in subparagraph (A). . (b) Team and joint venture offers for multiple award contracts Section 15(q)(1) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 644(q)(1) (1) in the heading, by inserting and joint venture requirements (2) by striking Each Federal agency (A) In general Each Federal agency ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (B) Teams When evaluating an offer of a small business prime contractor that includes a proposed team of subcontractors for any multiple award contract above the substantial bundling threshold of the Federal agency, the head of the Federal agency shall consider the capabilities and past performance of each first tier subcontractor that is part of the team as the capabilities and past performance of the offeror. (C) Joint ventures When evaluating an offer of a joint venture of small business concerns for any multiple award contract above the substantial bundling threshold of the Federal agency, if the joint venture does not have sufficient capabilities or past performance to be considered for award of a contract opportunity, the head of the Federal agency shall consider the capabilities and past performance of each member of the joint venture as the capabilities and past performance of the joint venture. (D) Use of small business teams or joint ventures (i) In general For contracts awarded under section 8(a), 8(m), 15(a), 15(j), 31, or 36 to a team of small business prime contractors and subcontractors or a joint venture of small business concerns, the contracting officer shall certify annually to the Administration, for each year the contract is in effect, that each small business concern member of the team or joint venture has the same status of a small business concern, small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small business concern, small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or small business concern owned and controlled by women, as applicable, that such concern had at the time the contract was awarded. (ii) Exception The requirements of clause (i) shall not apply to a contract awarded to a joint venture of small business concerns that is a protege under a mentor-protege program approved pursuant to section 45. . (c) Rulemaking Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue any regulations necessary to carry out the amendments made by this section. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Small Business Fairness Act 2. Joint venturing and teaming (a) Joint venture offers for bundled or consolidated contracts Section 15(e)(4) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 644(e)(4) (4) Contract teaming (A) In general In the case of a solicitation of offers for a bundled or consolidated contract that is issued by the head of an agency, a small business concern may submit an offer that provides for use of a particular team of subcontractors or a joint venture of small business concerns for the performance of the contract. (B) Evaluation of offers (i) In general The head of an agency shall evaluate the offer of a team or a joint venture of small business concerns submitted under subparagraph (A) in the same manner as other offers, with due consideration to the capabilities of all of the proposed subcontractors or members of the joint venture. (ii) Teams When evaluating an offer of a small business prime contractor that includes a proposed team of subcontractors, the head of the agency shall consider the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the prime contractor and each first tier subcontractor that is part of the team as the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the team. (iii) Joint ventures When evaluating an offer of a joint venture of small business concerns, if the joint venture does not have sufficient capabilities, prior experience, or past performance to be considered for award of a contract opportunity, the head of the agency shall consider the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of each member of the joint venture as the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the joint venture. (C) Status as a small business concern Participation of a small business concern in a team or a joint venture under this paragraph shall not affect the status of that concern as a small business concern with respect to the performance of a contract described in subparagraph (A). . (b) Team and joint venture offers for multiple award contracts Section 15(q)(1) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 644(q)(1) (1) in the heading, by inserting and joint venture requirements (2) by striking Each Federal agency (A) In general Each Federal agency ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (B) Teams When evaluating an offer of a small business prime contractor that includes a proposed team of subcontractors for any multiple award contract above the substantial bundling threshold of the Federal agency, the head of the Federal agency shall consider the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the prime contractor and each first tier subcontractor that is part of the team as the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the team. (C) Joint ventures When evaluating an offer of a joint venture of small business concerns for any multiple award contract above the substantial bundling threshold of the Federal agency, if the joint venture does not have sufficient capabilities, prior experience, or past performance to be considered for award of a contract opportunity, the head of the Federal agency shall consider the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of each member of the joint venture as the capabilities, prior experience, and past performance of the joint venture. (D) Use of small business teams or joint ventures (i) In general For contracts awarded under section 8(a), 8(m), 15(a), 15(j), 31, or 36 to a team of small business prime contractors and subcontractors or a joint venture of small business concerns, the contracting officer shall certify annually to the Administration, for each year the contract is in effect, that each small business concern member of the team or joint venture has the same status of a small business concern, small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small business concern, small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or small business concern owned and controlled by women, as applicable, that such concern had at the time the contract was awarded. (ii) Exception The requirements of clause (i) shall not apply to a contract awarded to a joint venture of small business concerns that is a protege under a mentor-protege program approved pursuant to section 45. . (c) Rulemaking Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue any regulations necessary to carry out the amendments made by this section. June 10, 2015 Reported with an amendment

Summary: Small Business Fairness Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Small Business Act to revise requirements with respect to solicitation of offers for bundled contracts issued by the head of a federal agency that allows a small business to submit an offer (bid) that provides for the use of a particular team of subcontractors for the performance of the contract. The small business may now also bid on a bundled or consolidated contract that provides for the use of a joint venture of small businesses. The Small Business Administration (SBA), with respect to either a single or a multiple contract award, must evaluate teams and joint ventures of small business concerns by considering their prior experience and past performance as well as (according to current law) their capabilities. For certain federal procurement contracts awarded to a team of small business prime contractors and subcontractors or a joint venture of small businesses, the contracting officer must certify annually to the SBA, for each year the contract is in effect, that each small business member of the team or joint venture has the same status of a small business, small business owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone small business, small business owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or small business owned and controlled by women, as applicable, that it had at the time the contract was awarded. This requirement shall not apply to a contract awarded to a joint venture of small businesses that is a protege under a SBA approved mentor-protege program.