[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3101 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3101

   To reduce barriers to entry in Federal contracting, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 2010

  Mr. Tester introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reduce barriers to entry in Federal contracting, 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 ``Level Playing Field Contracting Act 
of 2010''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
        Act (41 U.S.C. 403).
            (2) The term ``small business concern'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632).

SEC. 3. REDUCED BUNDLING OF FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered consolidated civilian contract.--The term 
        ``covered consolidated civilian contract''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) a multiple award contract valued in 
                        excess of $2,000,000; or
                            (ii) a contract of an executive agency for 
                        property or services valued in excess of 
                        $2,000,000 that--
                                    (I) combines discrete procurement 
                                requirements from 2 or more existing 
                                contracts;
                                    (II) adds new, discrete procurement 
                                requirements to an existing contract; 
                                or
                                    (III) includes 2 or more discrete 
                                procurement or acquisition 
                                requirements; and
                    (B) does not include any consolidated acquisition, 
                procurement, or contracting plan of the Department of 
                Defense.
            (2) Covered consolidated defense contract.--The term 
        ``covered consolidated Defense contract'' means--
                    (A) a multiple award contract of the Department of 
                Defense valued in excess of $7,500,000; or
                    (B) a contract of the Department of Defense for 
                property or services valued in excess of $7,500,000 
                that--
                            (i) combines discrete procurement 
                        requirements from 2 or more existing contracts;
                            (ii) adds new, discrete procurement 
                        requirements to an existing contract; or
                            (iii) includes 2 or more discrete 
                        procurement or acquisition requirements.
    (b) Restriction on Civilian Contract Bundling.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
        Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to 
        require that the head of an executive agency may not enter into 
        a covered consolidated civilian contract unless the senior 
        procurement official for the agency determines that the 
        consolidation of such contract is necessary and justified.
            (2) Necessary and justified determinations.--
                    (A) Required criteria.--In making a determination 
                that a contract is necessary and justified pursuant to 
                paragraph (1), the head of an executive agency shall--
                            (i) identify the benefits anticipated from 
                        the consolidation;
                            (ii) identify any alternative contracting 
                        approaches that would involve a lesser degree 
                        of contract consolidation; and
                            (iii) justify how the consolidation 
                        substantially exceeds the benefits of any 
                        alternative contracting approaches.
                    (B) Restrictions on basis of determination.--The 
                head of an executive agency may not base a 
                determination that a contract is necessary and 
                justified solely on savings in agency administrative or 
                personnel costs or lack of a sufficient procurement 
                workforce.
    (c) Restriction on Defense Contract Bundling.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
        modify the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal 
        Acquisition Regulation to require that the head of an agency 
        may not enter into a covered consolidated Defense contract 
        unless the senior procurement official for the agency 
        determines that the consolidation of such contract is necessary 
        and justified or that such consolidation is appropriate in the 
        face of exigent circumstances and national security.
            (2) Necessary and justified determinations.--
                    (A) Required criteria.--In making a determination 
                that a contract is necessary and justified pursuant to 
                paragraph (1), the head of an agency shall--
                            (i) identify the benefits anticipated from 
                        the consolidation;
                            (ii) identify any alternative contracting 
                        approaches that would involve a lesser degree 
                        of contract consolidation; and
                            (iii) justify how the consolidation 
                        substantially exceeds the benefits of any 
                        alternative contracting approaches.
                    (B) Restrictions on basis of determination.--The 
                head of an agency may not base a determination that a 
                contract is necessary and justified solely on savings 
                in agency administrative or personnel costs or lack of 
                a sufficient procurement workforce.

SEC. 4. QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATION OF CONTRACT BIDS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation to require the head of an executive agency--
            (1) to use a numeric grading or other quantitative 
        methodology to evaluate bid proposals for each contract of such 
        agency that is awarded through full and open competitive 
        procedures; and
            (2) to disclose the methodology in the bid solicitation 
        documents for the contract.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT OF LOCAL WORKFORCE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) GSA Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Administrator of General Services shall submit to Congress a 
        report describing efforts to enforce the local workforce 
        subcontracting requirements included in contracts entered into 
        by the General Services Administration. The report shall 
        include an assessment of the effectiveness of enforcement 
        efforts related to such requirements and proposals to better 
        enforce the requirements.
            (2) Efforts to remedy noncompliance with requirements.--If 
        local workforce subcontracting requirements have not been met 
        in any contract entered into by the General Services 
        Administration, the report required under this subsection shall 
        include a description of efforts made by the General Services 
        Administration to meet the requirements in such contract.
    (b) GAO Report.--Not later than 180 days after submission of the 
first report required under subsection (a), the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall submit to Congress a report commenting on the 
findings described in such report and including recommendations for 
further actions to ensure compliance with local workforce 
subcontracting requirements.

SEC. 6. ACQUISITION WORKFORCE IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Evaluation and Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the head of each executive agency shall 
submit to Congress a report evaluating the strength and sufficiency of 
its acquisition workforce.
    (b) Content.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) a 30-year history of the size of the acquisition 
        agency's workforce; and
            (2) a description of measures the agency is implementing to 
        address any shortage of acquisition workforce personnel.
    (c) Public Comment.--In preparing the report required under 
subsection (a), the head of each executive agency shall solicit 
feedback regarding the agency's acquisition workforce, including 
through a public comment process.

SEC. 7. USE OF PROCUREMENT ASSISTANCE RESOURCES.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation to require executive agencies to take actions to 
encourage prospective contractors to utilize contracting assistance 
resources that are offered in their communities. The Federal 
Acquisition Regulation, as so amended, shall include a requirement that 
the bid solicitation documents for a contract include language 
encouraging the use of such resources.

SEC. 8. IMPROVING OUTREACH TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    Section 15 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Small Business Outreach Program.--
            ``(1) Program established.--The Administrator and the 
        Administrator of General Services shall jointly establish an 
        outreach program--
                    ``(A) to communicate with small business concerns 
                regarding specific contracting opportunities with the 
                Federal Government; and
                    ``(B) to inform small business concerns about 
                opportunities to learn about the process of contracting 
                with the Federal Government.
            ``(2) Annual report to congress.--Not later than 1 year 
        after the date of enactment of this subsection, and annually 
        thereafter, the Administrator and the Administrator of General 
        Services shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the 
        program under this subsection that includes the number of small 
        business concerns that entered into a contract with the Federal 
        Government for the first time during the applicable year as a 
        result of the program.''.

SEC. 9. GAO REPORT ON FEDERAL CONTRACTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    (a) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall conduct a study of changes in the definition of 
        the term ``small business concern'' and the size standards 
        established under section 3(a)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632(a)(2)) during the 10-year period ending on the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Contents.--The study conducted under paragraph (1) 
        shall, for each change in the definition of the term ``small 
        business concern'' or the size standards established under 
        section 3(a)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        632(a)(2))--
                    (A) analyze the size and number of small business 
                concerns that--
                            (i) did not qualify as a small business 
                        concern before the change; and
                            (ii) entered into a contract with the 
                        Federal Government for the first time after the 
                        effective date of the change; and
                    (B) assess whether the ability of small business 
                concerns that qualified as a small business concern 
                before the change to compete for contracts with the 
                Federal Government was inhibited by the change.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report detailing the results of the study 
conducted under subsection (a).

SEC. 10. GAO REPORT ON POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO ENTRY IN FEDERAL 
              CONTRACTING.

    (a) Covered Agency.--In this section, the term ``covered agency'' 
means--
            (1) the General Services Administration;
            (2) the Army Corps of Engineers; and
            (3) the Department of Homeland Security.
    (b) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study examining the degree to which covered agencies have 
entered into contracts since January 1, 2004, with contractors that 
have previous experience performing Federal contracts.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
        to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection 
        (b).
            (2) Content.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) A description of the frequency with which 
                covered agencies enter into contracts with contractors 
                that have previous experience performing Federal 
                contracts.
                    (B) An assessment, by year, from 2004 through 2009, 
                of whether the number of repeat contractors has 
                increased or decreased in proportion to the number of 
                contractors awarded Federal contracts.
            (3) Contracts covered.--The report required under paragraph 
        (1) shall include information on the awarding of contracts 
        using full and open competition procedures and the awarding of 
        sole source contracts.

SEC. 11. GAO REPORT ON AWARDING OF FEDERAL CONTRACTS.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study on the size and experience of contractors awarded 
contracts by the General Services Administration, the Army Corps of 
Engineers, and the Department of Homeland Security.
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
        to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection 
        (a).
            (2) Content.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        include, with respect to contracts entered into by the General 
        Services Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the 
        Department of Homeland Security on or after January 1, 2000, 
        the following information:
                    (A) The number of contractors with fewer than 50 
                employees.
                    (B) The number of contractors with fewer than 10 
                employees.
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