Procurement Related Legislation Introduced in the New Congress

The new Congress has been in session only a few days and already have introduced a number of procurement related bills. At this point, they've only been introduced and no action has been taken except for referral to a committee (or two). It's a fact that most introduced bills never make it to passage. And perhaps none of these will either. Or, they may be folded into another bill like the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), as sometimes happens.

Anyway, here's a few of the bills just introduced.

• H.R. 246 - Requires senior procurement executives, procurement center representatives, and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to assis small business concerns participating in the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program. We're not so sure that this will accomplish anything. We have yet to encounter anyone in the Government that can answer specific questions that small businesses have when entering the Government contracting arena. Questions like: What accounting software should I use? How should I set up my chart of accounts? What timekeeping software should I use? How do I establish an indirect rate structure?
• H.R. 190 - Eliminates the inclusion of option years in the award price for sole source contracts. We're sure that contracting officers relish the idea of coming back to the negotiating table every year instead of every five years. We're sure that contractors will want to do the same. Any idea of what this will cost contractors or the Government?
• H.R. 206 - Encouraging small business innovation act. This bill would include testing and evaluation in the definition of research and development, include small business investment companies in SBIR and STTR program limited to 33 percent of ownership, allow points in past-performance ratings for businesses that serve as mentors under the mentor-protege program, and a few other provisions.
• H.R. 227 - specifies what credit is given for certain subcontractors and to provide a dispute process for non-payment to subcontractors. There must be subcontractors out there that are not being paid by their primes or are not being paid in a timely manner.

We'll keep you informed and provide more details if any of these progress beyond the committee stage.