Title: VA-SBA Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business Adjustment Act or the VA-SBA Act
This bill transfers the responsibility for verifying that a small business concern is owned and controlled by a veteran or service-disabled veteran, for the purposes of eligibility for certain procurement programs, from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administration. It also modifies various aspects of such programs, including penalties for misrepresenting ownership status.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7169 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7169

  To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business concerns 
 owned and controlled by veterans or service-disabled veterans to the 
         Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 27, 2018

  Mr. Kelly of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Curtis, Miss 
   Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico, Mr. Balderson, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. 
Fitzpatrick, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Bergman, Mr. Dunn, 
   Mr. Banks of Indiana, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mrs. 
    Murphy of Florida, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, and Mr. Peters) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business concerns 
 owned and controlled by veterans or service-disabled veterans to the 
         Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Verification Alignment and Service-
disabled Business Adjustment Act'' or the ``VA-SBA Act''.

SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ACT REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Procurement Program for Small Business Concerns Owned and 
Controlled by Service-Disabled Veterans.--Section 36 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (d) and (e);
            (2) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and (c) as 
        subsections (c), (d), and (e) respectively;
            (3) by inserting before subsection (c), as so redesignated, 
        the following:
    ``(a) Contracting Officer Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `contracting officer' has the meaning given such term in 
section 2101 of title 41, United States Code.
    ``(b) Certification of Small Business Concerns Owned and Controlled 
by Service-Disabled Veterans.--With respect to a procurement program or 
preference established under this Act or any other Federal law 
applicable to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
disabled veterans, the Administrator shall--
            ``(1) certify the status of the concern as a `small 
        business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
        veterans'; and
            ``(2) require the periodic recertification of such 
        status.'';
            (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) the concern is certified by the Administrator as a 
        small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
        veterans.'';
            (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``and that the award can be made at a fair market price'' and 
        inserting ``, that the award can be made at a fair market 
        price, and each concern is certified by the Administrator as a 
        small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
        veterans''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Enforcement; Penalties.--
            ``(1) Verification of eligibility.--In carrying out this 
        section, the Administrator shall establish procedures relating 
        to--
                    ``(A) the filing, investigation, and disposition by 
                the Administration of any challenge to the eligibility 
                of a small business concern to receive assistance under 
                this section (including a challenge, filed by an 
                interested party, relating to the veracity of a 
                certification made or information provided to the 
                Administration by a small business concern under 
                subsection (b)); and
                    ``(B) verification by the Administrator of the 
                accuracy of any certification made or information 
                provided to the Administration by a small business 
                concern under subsection (b).
            ``(2) Examinations.--
                    ``(A) Examination of applicants.--The procedures 
                established under paragraph (1) shall provide for a 
                program of examinations by the Administrator of any 
                small business concern making a certification or 
                providing information to the Administrator under 
                subsection (b), to determine the veracity of any 
                statements or information provided as part of such 
                certification or otherwise provided under subsection 
                (b).
                    ``(B) Examination of certified concerns.--The 
                procedures established under paragraph (1) shall 
                provide for the examination of risk-based samples of 
                small business concerns certified under subsection (b), 
                or of any small business concern that the Administrator 
                believes poses a particular risk or with respect to 
                which the Administrator receives specific and credible 
                information alleging that the small business concern no 
                longer meets eligibility requirements to be certified 
                as a small business concern owned and controlled by 
                service-disabled veterans.
            ``(3) Penalties.--In addition to the penalties described in 
        section 16(d) (15 U.S.C. 657f(d)), any small business concern 
        that is determined by the Administrator to have misrepresented 
        the status of that concern as a small business concern owned 
        and controlled by service-disabled veterans for purposes of 
        subsection (b), shall be subject to--
                    ``(A) section 1001 of title 18, United States Code;
                    ``(B) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, 
                United States Code; and
                    ``(C) section 8127(g) of title 38, United States 
                Code.
    ``(g) Provision of Data.--Upon the request of the Administrator, 
the head of any Federal department or agency shall promptly provide to 
the Administrator such information as the Administrator determines to 
be necessary to carry out subsection (b) or to be able to certify the 
status of the concern as a small business concern owned and controlled 
by veterans.''.
    (b) Penalties for Misrepresentation.--Section 16 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``,, a'' and inserting ``, a `small 
                business concern owned and controlled by service-
                disabled veterans', a''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (A), by striking ``9, 15, or 31'' 
                and inserting ``8, 9, 15, 31, or 36''; and
            (2) in subsection (e), by striking ``,, a'' and inserting 
        ``, a `small business concern owned and controlled by service-
        disabled veterans', a''.

SEC. 3. USE OF VETERAN-OWNED AND SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED 
              BUSINESS DATABASE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              AND SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Effective on the transfer date, section 8127 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by striking ``the Secretary'' and 
        inserting ``the Administrator'';
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by striking ``the Secretary'' each place such 
                term appears and inserting ``the Administrator'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph (B) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(B) For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(i) the Secretary shall--
                            ``(I) verify an individual's status as a 
                        veteran; and
                            ``(II) establish a system to permit the 
                        Administrator to access, but not alter, such 
                        verification; and
                    ``(ii) the Administrator shall verify a business 
                concern's status as a small business concern.
            ``(C) If the Administrator receives an application from an 
        individual with respect to a business concern for inclusion in 
        the database, but the individual's status as a veteran cannot 
        be verified under subparagraph (B) or the business concern's 
        status as a small business concern cannot be verified under 
        subparagraph (B), the Administrator may not include the 
        business concern in the database maintained by the 
        Administrator.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (8)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
                                    (I) by amending subclause (I) to 
                                read as follows:
                    ``(I) the Secretary or the Administrator; or''; and
                                    (II) in subclause (II), by striking 
                                ``the contracting officer of the 
                                Department'' and inserting ``the 
                                applicable contracting officer''; and
                            (ii) by striking subparagraph (C);
            (3) by redesignating subsection (k) as subsection (l);
            (4) by inserting after subsection (k) the following:
    ``(k) Annual Transfer for Certification Costs.--For each fiscal 
year, the Secretary shall reimburse the Administrator in an amount 
necessary to cover any cost incurred by the Administrator for 
certifying small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans 
that do not qualify as small business concerns owned and controlled by 
service-disabled veterans for the Secretary for purposes of this 
section and section 8128. The Administrator is authorized to accept 
such reimbursement. The amount of any such reimbursement shall be 
determined jointly by the Secretary and the Administrator and shall be 
provided from fees collected by the Secretary under multiple-award 
schedule contracts. Any disagreement about the amount shall be resolved 
by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.''; and
            (5) in subsection (l), as so redesignated, by adding at the 
        end the following:
            ``(3) The term `Administrator' means the Administrator of 
        the Small Business Administration.''.
    (b) Administration Access to Database Before the Transfer Date.--
During the period between the date of enactment of this Act and the 
transfer date, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration with access to the 
database described under section 8127(f) of title 38, United States 
Code.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments 
made by this Act may be construed as prohibiting the Small Business 
Administration from combining the database described under section 
8127(f) of title 38, United States Code, with other databases 
maintained by the Administration.

SEC. 4. STATUS OF SELF-CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND 
              CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS AND VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
small business concern that self-certified as a small business concern 
owned and controlled by veterans or a small business concern owned and 
controlled by service-disabled veterans shall--
            (1) if the concern files a certification application with 
        the Administrator before the end of the 1-year period beginning 
        on the transfer date, maintain such self-certification until 
        the Administrator makes a determination with respect to such 
        certification; and
            (2) if the concern does not file such a certification 
        application before the end of the 1-year period beginning on 
        the transfer date, lose, at the end of such 1-year period, any 
        self-certification of the concern as a small business concern 
        owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
    (b) Non-Applicability to Department of Veterans Affairs.--
Subsection (a) shall not apply to participation in contracts (including 
subcontracts) with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF THE CENTER FOR VERIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO THE SMALL BUSINESS 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Abolishment.--The Center for Verification and Evaluation of the 
Department defined under section 74.1 of title 38, Code of Federal 
Regulations, is abolished effective on the transfer date.
    (b) Transfer of Functions.--All functions that, immediately before 
the effective date of this section, were functions of the Center for 
Verification and Evaluation shall--
            (1) on the date of enactment of this Act, be functions of 
        both the Center for Verification and Evaluation and the Small 
        Business Administration, except that the Small Business 
        Administration shall not have any authority to carry out any 
        certification functions; and
            (2) on the transfer date, be functions of the Small 
        Business Administration.
    (c) Transfer of Assets.--So much of the personnel, property, 
records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and 
other funds employed, used, held, available, or to be made available in 
connection with a function transferred under this section shall be 
available to the Small Business Administration at such time or times as 
the President directs for use in connection with the functions 
transferred.
    (d) References.--Any reference in any other Federal law, Executive 
order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of 
or pertaining to a function of the Center for Verification and 
Evaluation that is transferred under this section is deemed, after the 
transfer date, to refer to the Small Business Administration.

SEC. 6. DOLLAR THRESHOLD FOR SOLE SOURCE AWARDS TO SMALL BUSINESS 
              CONCERN OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED 
              VETERANS.

    (a) Small Business Act.--Effective on the transfer date, paragraph 
(2) of section 36(c) of the Small Business Act, as redesignated by 
section 2(a)(2), is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) the anticipated award price of the contract will not 
        exceed--
                    ``(A) $7,000,000, in the case of a contract 
                opportunity assigned a standard industrial 
                classification code for manufacturing; or
                    ``(B) $5,000,000, in the case of any other contract 
                opportunity; and''.
    (b) Title 38.--Effective on the transfer date, paragraph (2) of 
section 8127(c)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
            ``(2) the anticipated award price of the contract will not 
        exceed the amount described under section 36(a)(2) of the Small 
        Business Act; and''.

SEC. 7. REPORT.

    Not later than the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter until the 
transfer date, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
and Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, jointly, issue a report to the 
Committees on Appropriations, Small Business, and Veteran's Affairs of 
the House of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations, 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Veteran's Affairs of the 
Senate on the planning for the transfer of functions and property 
required under this Act and the amendments made by this Act on the 
transfer date. Such report shall include--
            (1) whether and how the verification database and 
        operations of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs will be incorporated into the 
        Small Business Administration's existing certification 
        database;
            (2) projections for the numbers and timing, in terms of 
        fiscal year, of--
                    (A) already verified concerns that will come up for 
                recertification; and
                    (B) self-certified concerns that are expected to 
                apply for certification;
            (3) an explanation of how outreach to veteran service 
        organizations, the service-disabled veteran-owned and veteran-
        owned small business community, and other stakeholders will be 
        conducted; and
            (4) other pertinent information determined by the 
        Administrator and the Secretary.

SEC. 8. TRANSFER DATE.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``transfer date'' means the date 
that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, except that 
such date may be extended an unlimited number of times by a period of 
not more than 6 months if the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration and Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly certify to 
Congress that such extension is necessary and notify Congress of the 
length of the extension.
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