NDAA for Fiscal Year 2012

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TITLE XVI--INDUSTRIAL BASE MATTERS Subtitle C--Matters Relating to Small Business Concerns
P. L. 112-	House Conference Report 112-705
SEC. 1631. GOALS FOR PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS AWARDED TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. (a) Governmentwide Goals- Paragraph (1) of section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)) is amended to read as follows: `(1) GOVERNMENTWIDE GOALS- `(A) ESTABLISHMENT- The President shall annually establish Governmentwide goals for procurement contracts awarded to small business concerns, 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women in accordance with the following: `(i) The Governmentwide goal for participation by small business concerns shall be established at not less than 23 percent of the total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year. `(ii) The Governmentwide goal for participation by small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans shall be established at not less than 3 percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year. `(iii) The Governmentwide goal for participation by qualified HUBZone small business concerns shall be established at not less than 3 percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year. `(iv) The Governmentwide goal for participation by small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals shall be established at not less than 5 percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year. `(v) The Governmentwide goal for participation by small business concerns owned and controlled by women shall be established at not less than 5 percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year. `(B) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOVERNMENTWIDE GOALS- Each agency shall have an annual goal that presents, for that agency, the maximum practicable opportunity for small business concerns, 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women to participate in the performance of contracts let by such agency. The Small Business Administration and the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall, when exercising their authority pursuant to paragraph (2), insure that the cumulative annual prime contract goals for all agencies meet or exceed the annual Governmentwide prime contract goal established by the President pursuant to this paragraph.'. (b) Amendments to the Small Business Act- Paragraph (2) of section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)) is amended-- (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end the following: `Such goals shall separately address prime contract awards and subcontract awards for each category of small business covered.'; (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking `For the purpose of establishing goals under this subsection' and all that follows through the end of that subparagraph, and inserting the following: `After establishing goals under this paragraph for a fiscal year, the head of each Federal agency shall develop a plan for achieving such goals at both the prime contract and the subcontract level, which shall apportion responsibilities among the agency's acquisition executives and officials. In establishing goals under this paragraph, the head of each Federal agency shall make a consistent effort to annually expand participation by small business concerns from each industry category in procurement contracts and subcontracts of such agency, including participation by 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women.'; and (3) by striking subparagraphs (E) and (F) and inserting the following: `(E) The head of each Federal agency, in attempting to attain expanded participation under subparagraph (D), shall consider-- `(i) contracts awarded as the result of unrestricted competition; and `(ii) contracts awarded after competition restricted to eligible small business concerns under this section and under the program established under section 8(a). `(F)(i) Each procurement employee or program manager described in clause (ii) shall communicate to the subordinates of the procurement employee or program manager the importance of achieving goals established under subparagraph (A). `(ii) A procurement employee or program manager described in this clause is a senior procurement executive, senior program manager, or Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of a Federal agency having contracting authority.'. (c) Additional Requirements- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this part, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall review and revise the Goaling Guidelines for the Small Business Preference Programs for Prime and Subcontract Federal Procurement Goals and Achievements to the extent necessary to ensure that-- (1) agency subcontracting goals are established on the basis of realistically achievable improvements to levels of subcontracting rather than on the basis of an average of previous years' subcontracting performance; (2) agency contracting and subcontracting goals are established in a manner that does not exclude categories of contracts on the basis of-- (A) the type of goods or services for which the agency contracts; (B) in the case of contracts subject to competitive procedures under chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code-- (i) whether or not funding for the contracts is made directly available to the agency by an Appropriations Act or is made available by reimbursement from another agency or account; or (ii) whether or not the contract is subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and (3) whenever an agency contracting or subcontracting goal is established at a level lower than the Governmentwide goal for small business concerns or the relevant category of small business concerns, the Administration is required to document the basis for the decision to establish such lower goal. (d) Assessment Required- Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this part, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration shall enter into a contract with an appropriate entity to conduct an independent assessment of the small business procurement goals established in section 15(g) of the Small Business Act. (1) COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE- To the extent practicable, the Administrator shall coordinate this assessment with the Secretary of Defense, to avoid unnecessary duplication with the assessment required by section 1613 of this title. (2) MATTERS COVERED- The assessment under this subsection shall, at a minimum, include-- (A) a description of the industrial composition of companies receiving prime contracts and subcontracts with the Federal Government; (B) a description of the industrial composition of domestic small business concerns, 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women; (C) a comparison of the industrial composition of prime contractors and subcontractors participating in Federal contracting and the industrial composition of domestic small business concerns, 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women; (D) a determination of barriers to accurately capturing data on small business prime contracting and subcontracting, including an examination of the reliability of information technology systems used by more than one Federal agency to track such data; (E) recommendations for improving the quality and availability of data regarding small business prime contracting and subcontracting performance; (F) recommendations to improve and inform the establishment of the goals in section 15(g) of the Small Business Act, including: (i) alternate methodologies for establishing the goals; (ii) determining which contracts should be subject to the goals; (iii) methods for improving the correlation of current goaling practices with the health of the industrial base; and (iv) methods of allocating goals between Federal agencies; and (G) barriers within Federal procurement practices that inhibit the maximum practicable utilization of domestic small business concerns, 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, and small business concerns owned and controlled by women.	Goals for procurement contracts awarded to small business concerns (sec. 1631) The House bill contained a provision (sec. 1631) that would amend section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (title 15 United States Code Subsection 644) to establish new goals for the participation of small business concerns in federal contracting. The Senate amendment contained no similar provision. The Senate recedes with an amendment that would strengthen incentives for federal agencies to contract with small business by recodifying certain provisions relating to small business contracting goals, tightening procedures for establishing such goals, and requiring federal agencies to develop concrete plans to meet such goals.
	House Report 112-479
	SECTION 1631--GOALS FOR PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS AWARDED TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS This section would amend subsection (g) of section 15 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644) by establishing a Government-wide goal for participation by small business concerns at not less than 25 percent of the total value of all prime contracts for each fiscal year, and 40 percent of the total value of all subcontract awards for each fiscal year. This section would also require that agency goals related to small business concerns cannot be less than Government-wide goals.

SEC. 1631. GOALS FOR PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS AWARDED TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.