Title: Unlocking Opportunities for Small 
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Unlocking Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2019
This bill requires the past performance of a small business concern to be taken into account in certain situations.
Specifically, when a small business previously participated in a joint venture, an agency's contracting officer must consider the past performance of the joint venture when evaluating the small business's offer for a prime contract. In addition, a small business that performed as a first-tier subcontractor for an agency contract may request that the prime contractor submit to a contracting agency a record of past performance, and the agency's contracting officer must consider such record when evaluating an offer by the small business for a prime contract.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5146 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5146

To amend the Small Business Act to require contracting officers to take 
a small business concern's past performance as part of a joint venture 
into account when evaluating the small business concern, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Small Business Act to require contracting officers to take 
a small business concern's past performance as part of a joint venture 
into account when evaluating the small business concern, 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 ``Unlocking Opportunities for Small 
Businesses Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PAST PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF JOINT VENTURES FOR SMALL BUSINESS 
              CONCERNS.

    (a) In General.--Section 15(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
644(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Past performance ratings of joint ventures for small 
        business concerns.--With respect to evaluating an offer for a 
        prime contract made by a small business concern that previously 
        participated in a joint venture with another business concern 
        (whether or not such other business concern was itself a small 
        business concern), the Administrator shall establish 
        regulations--
                    ``(A) requiring contracting officers to consider 
                the record of past performance of the joint venture 
                when evaluating the past performance of the small 
                business concern; and
                    ``(B) requiring the small business concern to 
                inform the contracting officer what duties and 
                responsibilities the small business concern carried out 
                as part of the joint venture.''.

SEC. 3. PAST PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF FIRST-TIER SMALL BUSINESS 
              SUBCONTRACTORS.

    Section 8(d)(17) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(17)) 
is amended to read as follows:
            ``(17) Past performance ratings for certain small business 
        subcontractors.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Upon request by a small business 
                concern that performed as a first-tier subcontractor on 
                a covered contract (as defined in paragraph 13(A)) that 
                is submitting an offer for a solicitation, the prime 
                contractor for such covered contract shall submit to 
                the contracting agency issuing the solicitation or to 
                such small business concern a record of past 
                performance for such small business concern with 
                respect to such covered contract.
                    ``(B) Consideration.--A contracting officer shall 
                consider the record of past performance of a small 
                business concern provided under subparagraph (A) when 
                evaluating an offer for a prime contract made by such 
                small business concern.''.

SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

    (a) SBA Rules.--Not later than the end of the 120-day period 
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the Small Business Administration shall issue rules to carry out this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act.
    (b) Federal Acquisition Regulation.--Not later than the end of the 
120-day period beginning on the date that rules are issued under 
paragraph (1), the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to 
reflect such rules.
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