[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2481 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2481

 To amend the Small Business Act to provide authority for sole source 
 contracts for certain small business concerns owned and controlled by 
                     women, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 17, 2014

     Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, and Mrs. Gillibrand) 
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 to provide authority for sole source 
 contracts for certain 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 ``Women's Small Business Procurement 
Parity Act''.

SEC. 2. SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED 
              AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.

    (a) In General.--Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
637(m)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``paragraph (3)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (4)'';
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ``(2)(F)'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``(2)(E)''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) Authority for sole source contracts for economically 
        disadvantaged small business concerns owned and controlled by 
        women in underrepresented industries.--A contracting officer 
        may award a sole source contract under this subsection to a 
        small business concern owned and controlled by women that meets 
        the requirements under paragraph (2)(A) if--
                    ``(A) the small business concern owned and 
                controlled by women is in an industry in which small 
                business concerns owned and controlled by women are 
                underrepresented, as determined by the Administrator;
                    ``(B) the contracting officer determines that the 
                small business concern owned and controlled by women is 
                a responsible contractor with respect to performance of 
                the contract opportunity;
                    ``(C) the anticipated award price of the contract, 
                including options, is not more than--
                            ``(i) $6,500,000, in the case of a contract 
                        opportunity assigned a North American Industry 
                        Classification System code for manufacturing; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any other 
                        contract opportunity; and
                    ``(D) in the estimation of the contracting officer, 
                the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable 
                price.
            ``(8) Authority for sole source contracts for small 
        business concerns owned and controlled by women in 
        substantially underrepresented industries.--A contracting 
        officer may award a sole source contract under this subsection 
        to a small business concern owned and controlled by women that 
        meets the requirements under paragraph (2)(E) if--
                    ``(A) the small business concern owned and 
                controlled by women is in an industry in which small 
                business concerns owned and controlled by women are 
                substantially underrepresented, as determined by the 
                Administrator;
                    ``(B) the contracting officer determines that the 
                small business concern owned and controlled by women is 
                a responsible contractor with respect to performance of 
                the contract opportunity;
                    ``(C) the anticipated award price of the contract, 
                including options, is not more than--
                            ``(i) $6,500,000, in the case of a contract 
                        opportunity assigned a North American Industry 
                        Classification System code for manufacturing; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) $4,000,000, in the case of any other 
                        contract opportunity; and
                    ``(D) in the estimation of the contracting officer, 
                the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable 
                price.''.
    (b) Reporting on Goals for Sole Source Contracts for Small Business 
Concerns Owned and Controlled by Women.--Section 15(h)(2)(E)(viii) of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(h)(2)(E)(viii)) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (IV), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating subclause (V) as subclause (VIII); and
            (3) by inserting after subclause (IV) the following:
                                    ``(V) through sole source contracts 
                                awarded under section 8(m)(7);
                                    ``(VI) through sole source 
                                contracts awarded under section 
                                8(m)(8);
                                    ``(VII) by industry for contracts 
                                described in subclause (III), (IV), 
                                (V), or (VI); and''.
    (c) Deadline for Report on Underrepresented Industries 
Accelerated.--Section 29(o)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
656(o)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``5 years after the date of enactment of 
        this subsection'' and inserting ``January 2, 2015''; and
            (2) by striking ``5-year period'' and inserting ``2-year or 
        5-year period, as applicable,''.
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