Title: Clarity for America's Small Contractors Act of 2017
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Clarity for America's Small Contractors Act of 2017
This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the annual Small Business Administration (SBA) reports to the President and Congress analyzing the number and dollar amount of prime contracts awarded by federal agencies each fiscal year to specified kinds of small business concerns to include awards that were purchased by another entity after the initial contract was awarded. The concern would no longer be deemed to be a small business because of such purchase. The SBA must also report on awards to small businesses that were awarded using a procurement method other than a small business set-aside, preference, or full and open competition.
The bill revises the range of the anticipated value of federal procurement contracts that must be reserved exclusively for small business concerns to between the micro-purchase threshold ($3,000) and the simplified acquisition threshold ($100,000). (Currently the range of the anticipated value must be between $2,500 and $100,000.)
The bill specifies the principal duties of commercial market representatives, including to help prime contractors find small business concerns that are capable of performing subcontracts.
This bill: (1) extends for three years the deadline after which a person serving as an SBA business opportunity specialist must have a Level I Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting or the equivalent Department of Defense certification; and (2) declares that the exclusive duties of such a specialist who reports to the senior official appointed by the SBA with certain SBA loan responsibilities, including the procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program, shall be to implement specified SBA loan programs and to complete other duties related to contracting programs.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1773 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1773

To amend the Small Business Act to improve reporting on small business 
goals, achieve uniformity in procurement terminology, clarify the role 
          of small business advocates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2017

  Mr. Chabot (for himself and Ms. Velazquez) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Small Business Act to improve reporting on small business 
goals, achieve uniformity in procurement terminology, clarify the role 
          of small business advocates, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Clarity for 
America's Small Contractors Act of 2017''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act are as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
    TITLE I--IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND CLARITY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Sec. 101. Improving reporting on small business goals.
Sec. 102. Uniformity in procurement terminology.
       TITLE II--CLARIFYING THE ROLES OF SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATES

Sec. 201. Responsibilities of commercial market representatives.
Sec. 202. Responsibilities of business opportunity specialists.

    TITLE I--IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND CLARITY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

SEC. 101. IMPROVING REPORTING ON SMALL BUSINESS GOALS.

    (a) In General.--Section 15(h)(2)(E) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 644(h)(2)(E)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i)--
                    (A) in subclause (III), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclauses:
                                    ``(V) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns for 
                                purposes of the initial contract; and
                                    ``(VI) that were awarded using a 
                                procurement method that restricted 
                                competition to small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by service-
                                disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone 
                                small business concerns, small business 
                                concerns owned and controlled by 
                                socially and economically disadvantaged 
                                individuals, small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by women, or a 
                                subset of any such concerns;'';
            (2) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclauses:
                                    ``(VI) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned and 
                                controlled by service-disabled veterans 
                                for purposes of the initial contract; 
                                and
                                    ``(VII) that were awarded using a 
                                procurement method that restricted 
                                competition to qualified HUBZone small 
                                business concerns, small business 
                                concerns owned and controlled by 
                                socially and economically disadvantaged 
                                individuals, small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by women, or a 
                                subset of any such concerns;'';
            (3) in clause (iii)--
                    (A) in subclause (V), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclauses:
                                    ``(VII) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be qualified HUBZone small business 
                                concerns for purposes of the initial 
                                contract; and
                                    ``(VIII) that were awarded using a 
                                procurement method that restricted 
                                competition to small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by service-
                                disabled veterans, small business 
                                concerns owned and controlled by 
                                socially and economically disadvantaged 
                                individuals, small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by women, or a 
                                subset of any such concerns;'';
            (4) in clause (iv)--
                    (A) in subclause (V), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclauses:
                                    ``(VII) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned and 
                                controlled by socially and economically 
                                disadvantaged individuals for purposes 
                                of the initial contract; and
                                    ``(VIII) that were awarded using a 
                                procurement method that restricted 
                                competition to small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by service-
                                disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone 
                                small business concerns, small business 
                                concerns owned and controlled by women, 
                                or a subset of any such concerns;'';
            (5) in clause (v)--
                    (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subclause (V), by inserting ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclause:
                                    ``(VI) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned by 
                                an Indian tribe other than an Alaska 
                                Native Corporation for purposes of the 
                                initial contract;'';
            (6) in clause (vi)--
                    (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subclause (V), by inserting ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclause:
                                    ``(VI) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned by 
                                a Native Hawaiian Organization for 
                                purposes of the initial contract;'';
            (7) in clause (vii)--
                    (A) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclause:
                                    ``(VI) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned by 
                                an Alaska Native Corporation for 
                                purposes of the initial contract; 
                                and''; and
            (8) in clause (viii)--
                    (A) in subclause (VII), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subclause (VIII), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subclauses:
                                    ``(IX) that were purchased by 
                                another entity after the initial 
                                contract was awarded and as a result of 
                                the purchase, would no longer be deemed 
                                to be small business concerns owned and 
                                controlled by women for purposes of the 
                                initial contract; and
                                    ``(X) that were awarded using a 
                                procurement method that restricted 
                                competition to small business concerns 
                                owned and controlled by service-
                                disabled veterans, qualified HUBZone 
                                small business concerns, small business 
                                concerns owned and controlled by 
                                socially and economically disadvantaged 
                                individuals, or a subset of any such 
                                concerns; and''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration shall be required to report on the information required 
by clauses (i)(V), (ii)(VI), (iii)(VII), (iv)(VII), (v)(VI), (vi)(VI), 
(vii)(VI), and (viii)(IX) of section 15(h)(2)(E) of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 644(h)(2)(E)) beginning on the date that such 
information is available in the Federal Procurement Data System, the 
System for Award Management, or any new or successor system.

SEC. 102. UNIFORMITY IN PROCUREMENT TERMINOLOGY.

    (a) In General.--Section 15(j)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 644(j)(1)) is amended by striking ``greater than $2,500 but not 
greater than $100,000'' and inserting ``greater than the micro-purchase 
threshold, but not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 3(m) of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 632(m)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(m) Definitions Relating to Contracting.--In this Act:
            ``(1) Prime contract.--The term `prime contract' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 8701(4) of title 41, United 
        States Code.
            ``(2) Prime contractor.--The term `prime contractor' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 8701(5) of title 41, 
        United States Code.
            ``(3) Simplified acquisition threshold.--The term 
        `simplified acquisition threshold' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 134 of title 41, United States Code.
            ``(4) Micro-purchase threshold.--The term `micro-purchase 
        threshold' has the meaning given such term in section 1902 of 
        title 41, United States Code.
            ``(5) Total purchase and contracts for property and 
        services.--The term `total purchases and contracts for property 
        and services' shall mean total number and total dollar amount 
        of contracts and orders for property and services.''.

       TITLE II--CLARIFYING THE ROLES OF SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATES

SEC. 201. RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMERCIAL MARKET REPRESENTATIVES.

    Section 4(h) of the Small Business Act is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(h) Commercial Market Representatives.--
            ``(1) Duties.--The principal duties of a Commercial Market 
        Representative employed by the Administrator and reporting to 
        the senior official appointed by the Administrator with 
        responsibilities under sections 8, 15, 31, and 36 (or the 
        designee of such official) shall be to advance the policies 
        established in section 8(d)(1) relating to subcontracting. Such 
        duties shall include--
                    ``(A) helping prime contractors to find small 
                business concerns that are capable of performing 
                subcontracts;
                    ``(B) for contractors awarded contracts containing 
                the clause described in section 8(d)(3), providing--
                            ``(i) counseling on the contractor's 
                        responsibility to maximize subcontracting 
                        opportunities for small business concerns;
                            ``(ii) instruction on methods and tools to 
                        identify potential subcontractors that are 
                        small business concerns; and
                            ``(iii) assistance to increase awards to 
                        subcontractors that are small business concerns 
                        through visits, training, and reviews of past 
                        performance;
                    ``(C) providing counseling on how a small business 
                concern may promote its capacity to contractors awarded 
                contracts containing the clause described in section 
                8(d)(3); and
                    ``(D) conducting periodic reviews of contractors 
                awarded contracts containing the clause described in 
                section 8(d)(3) to assess compliance with 
                subcontracting plans required under section 8(d)(6).
            ``(2) Certification requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Consistent with the requirements 
                of subparagraph (B), a commercial market representative 
                referred to in section 15(q)(3) shall have a Level I 
                Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (or 
                any successor certification) or the equivalent 
                Department of Defense certification.
                    ``(B) Delay of certification requirement.--
                            ``(i) Timing.--The certification described 
                        in subparagraph (A) is not required--
                                    ``(I) for any person serving as a 
                                commercial market representative on the 
                                date of the enactment of this 
                                subsection, until the date that is one 
                                calendar year after the date such 
                                person was appointed as a commercial 
                                market representative; or
                                    ``(II) for any person serving as a 
                                commercial market representative on or 
                                before November 25, 2015, until 
                                November 25, 2020.
                            ``(ii) Application.--The requirements of 
                        clause (i)(I) shall be included in any initial 
                        job posting for the position of a commercial 
                        market representative.''.

SEC. 202. RESPONSIBILITIES OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY SPECIALISTS.

    Section 4(g) of the Small Business Act is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(g) Business Opportunity Specialists.--
            ``(1) Duties.--The exclusive duties of a Business 
        Opportunity Specialist employed by the Administrator and 
        reporting to the senior official appointed by the Administrator 
        with responsibilities under sections 8, 15, 31, and 36 (or the 
        designee of such official) shall be to implement sections 7, 8, 
        and 45 and to complete other duties related to contracting 
        programs under this Act. Such duties shall include--
                    ``(A) with respect to small business concerns 
                eligible to receive contracts and subcontracts pursuant 
                to section 8(a)--
                            ``(i) providing guidance, counseling, and 
                        referrals for assistance with technical, 
                        management, financial, or other matters that 
                        will improve the competitive viability of such 
                        concerns;
                            ``(ii) identifying causes of success or 
                        failure of such concerns;
                            ``(iii) providing comprehensive assessments 
                        of such concerns, including identifying the 
                        strengths and weaknesses of such concerns;
                            ``(iv) monitoring and documenting 
                        compliance with the requirements of sections 7 
                        and 8 and any regulations implementing those 
                        sections;
                            ``(v) explaining the requirements of 
                        sections 7, 8, 15, 31, 36 and 45; and
                            ``(vi) advising on compliance with 
                        contracting regulations (including the Federal 
                        Acquisition Regulation) after award of such a 
                        contract or subcontract;
                    ``(B) reviewing and monitoring compliance with 
                mentor-protege agreements under section 45;
                    ``(C) representing the interests of the 
                Administrator and small business concerns in the award, 
                modification, and administration of contracts and 
                subcontracts awarded pursuant to section 8(a); and
                    ``(D) reporting fraud or abuse under section 7, 8, 
                15, 31, 36, or 45 or any regulations implementing such 
                sections.
            ``(2) Certification requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Consistent with the requirements 
                of subparagraph (B), a Business Opportunity Specialist 
                described under section 7(j)(10)(D) shall have a Level 
                I Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (or 
                any successor certification) or the equivalent 
                Department of Defense certification.
                    ``(B) Delay of certification requirement.--
                            ``(i) Timing.--The certification described 
                        in subparagraph (A) is not required--
                                    ``(I) for any person serving as a 
                                Business Opportunity Specialist on the 
                                date of the enactment of this 
                                subsection, until the date that is one 
                                calendar year after the date such 
                                person was appointed as a Business 
                                Opportunity Specialist; or
                                    ``(II) for any person serving as a 
                                Business Opportunity Specialist on or 
                                before January 3, 2013, until January 
                                3, 2020.
                            ``(ii) Application.--The requirements of 
                        clause (i)(I) shall be included in any initial 
                        job posting for the position of a commercial 
                        market representative.''.
                                 <all>