[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1470 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1470
To amend the Small Business Act relating to small business concerns
owned and controlled by women, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 4, 2023
Ms. Ernst (for herself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act relating to small business concerns
owned and controlled by women, 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 ``Accountability in Women-Owned Small
Business Contracting Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(2) Small business concern owned and controlled by women.--
The term ``small business concern owned and controlled by
women'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
SEC. 3. ELIMINATING SELF-CERTIFICATION FOR WOMEN-OWNED SMALL
BUSINESSES.
(a) Eliminating Self-Certification in Prime Contracting and
Subcontracting for WOSBs.--
(1) In general.--Each prime contract award and subcontract
award that is counted for the purpose of meeting the goals for
participation by small business concerns owned and controlled
by women in procurement contracts for Federal agencies, as
established in section 15(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 644(g)(2)), shall be entered into with small business
concerns certified by the Administrator to meet the
requirements under section 3(n) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 632(n))
to be a small business concern owned and controlled by women.
(2) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall take effect on
October 1 of the fiscal year beginning after the Administrator
promulgates the regulations required under subsection (c).
(b) Phased Approach to Eliminating Self-Certification for WOSBs.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any small business concern
that self-certified as a small business concern owned and controlled by
women may--
(1) if the small business concern files a certification
application with the Administrator before the end of the 1-year
period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, maintain
such self-certification until the Administrator makes a
determination with respect to such certification; and
(2) if the small business concern does not file a
certification application before the end of the 1-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, lose, at the
end of such 1-year period, any self-certification of the small
business concern as a small business concern owned and
controlled by women.
(c) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations
to carry out this section.
SEC. 4. AGENCY TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS.
Section 15(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)(2)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(G) Remediation.--Any Federal agency failing to
meet the goal for participation by small business
concerns owned and controlled by women established
under paragraph (1)(B) in a fiscal year shall--
``(i) submit to the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and
the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives the report required under
subsection (h)(1); and
``(ii) testify before the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate and the Committee on Small Business of
the House of Representatives on the details of
the report submitted under clause (i), in
particular the justifications and remediation
plan described in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of
subsection (h)(1).''.
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the head
of any other Federal agency that the Administrator determines
appropriate, shall submit to Congress an interagency report that--
(1) identifies the leading economic barriers for small
business concerns owned and controlled by women, particularly
for industries underrepresented by small business concerns
owned and controlled by women;
(2) includes a detailed description of the impact of
inflation and supply chain disruptions on small business
concerns owned and controlled by women during the 3-year period
preceding the report;
(3) makes recommendations to improve access to capital for
small business concerns owned and controlled by women; and
(4) in consultation with the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy, makes recommendations for increasing the number of
Federal contract opportunities for small business concerns
owned and controlled by women.
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