[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 583 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.583

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two


                                 An Act


 
To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement strategies, 
                         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 ``Promoting Rigorous and Innovative 
Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions Act of 
2021'' or the ``PRICE Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds that--
        (1) small business participation in the Federal marketplace is 
    key to ensuring a strong industrial base;
        (2) the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988 
    (Public Law 100-656) sets forth the requirement for the President 
    to establish Government-wide goals for procurement contracts 
    awarded to small businesses;
        (3) each year, the Small Business Administration works with 
    each Federal agency to set their respective contracting goals and 
    publishes a scorecard to ensure that the total of all Federal 
    agency goals meets the required targets for the Federal Government;
        (4) the Department has received among the highest scorecard 
    letter grades 10 years in a row and is the largest Federal agency 
    to have such a track record;
        (5) in virtually every segment of the economy of the United 
    States, including the homeland security community, there are small 
    businesses working to support the mission and playing a critical 
    role in delivering efficient and innovative solutions to the 
    acquisition needs of the Federal Government;
        (6) the Procurement Innovation Lab of the Department--
            (A) is aimed at experimenting with innovative acquisition 
        techniques across the Homeland Security Enterprise;
            (B) provides a forum to test new ideas, share lessons 
        learned, and promote best practices;
            (C) fosters cultural changes that promote innovation and 
        managed risk taking through a continuous cycle of testing, 
        obtaining feedback, sharing information, and retesting where 
        appropriate; and
            (D) aims to make the acquisition process more smooth and 
        innovative within the construct of the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation for both the Federal Government and contractors; and
        (7) despite progress in the adoption of new and better business 
    practices by many Federal agencies, the overall adoption of 
    modernized business practices and advanced technologies across the 
    Federal Government remains slow and uneven.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
    Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
        (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
    ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs and the Committee on Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
            (B) the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on 
        Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on Small Business of 
        the House of Representatives.
        (3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Chief Acquisition 
    Officers Council established under section 1311 of title 41, United 
    States Code.
        (4) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department 
    of Homeland Security.
        (5) Homeland security enterprise.--The term ``Homeland Security 
    Enterprise'' has the meaning given the term in section 2211(h) of 
    the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 661(h)).
        (6) Scorecard.--The term ``scorecard'' means the scorecard 
    described in section 868(b) of the National Defense Authorization 
    Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (15 U.S.C. 644 note).
        (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    Homeland Security.
        (8) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means--
            (A) a qualified HUBZone small business concern, a small 
        business concern, a small business concern owned and controlled 
        by service-disabled veterans, or a small business concern owned 
        and controlled by women, as those terms are defined in section 
        3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632);
            (B) a small business concern owned and controlled by 
        socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as defined 
        in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        637(d)(3)(C)); or
            (C) a small business concern unconditionally owned by an 
        economically disadvantaged Indian tribe or an economically 
        disadvantaged Native Hawaiian organization that qualifies as a 
        socially and economically disadvantaged small business concern, 
        as defined in section 8(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 637(a)(4)).
        (9) Under secretary.--The term ``Under Secretary'' means the 
    Under Secretary for Management of the Department.
SEC. 4. PROCUREMENT INNOVATION LAB REPORT.
    (a) Report.--The Under Secretary shall publish an annual report on 
a website of the Department on Procurement Innovation Lab projects that 
have used innovative techniques within the Department to accomplish--
        (1) improving or encouraging better competition;
        (2) reducing time to award;
        (3) cost savings;
        (4) better mission outcomes; or
        (5) meeting the goals for contracts awarded to small business 
    concerns under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
    644(g)).
    (b) Education.--The Under Secretary shall develop and disseminate 
guidance and offer training for contracting officers, contracting 
specialists, program managers, and other personnel of the Department, 
as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary, concerning when and 
how to use the innovative procurement techniques of the Department.
    (c) Best Practices.--The Under Secretary shall share best practices 
across the Department and make available to other Federal agencies 
information to improve procurement methods and training, as determined 
appropriate by the Under Secretary.
    (d) Sunset.--This section shall cease to be effective on the date 
that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. COUNCIL.
    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 45 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall convene the Council to 
examine best practices for acquisition innovation in contracting in the 
Federal Government, including small business contracting in accordance 
with the goals established under section 15(g) of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)).
    (b) Working Group.--The Council may form a working group to address 
the requirements of this section, which, if formed, shall--
        (1) be chaired by the Administrator or a designee of the 
    Administrator; and
        (2) be composed of--
            (A) the Chief Procurement Officer of the Department;
            (B) Council members from--
                (i) the General Services Administration;
                (ii) the Department of Defense;
                (iii) the Department of the Treasury;
                (iv) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
                (v) the Department of Health and Human Services;
                (vi) the Small Business Administration; and
                (vii) such other Federal agencies as determined by the 
            chair of the Council from among Federal agencies that have 
            demonstrated significant, sustained progress using 
            innovative acquisition practices and technologies, 
            including for small business contracting, during each of 
            the 3 years preceding the date of enactment of this Act; 
            and
            (C) other employees, as determined appropriate by the chair 
        of the Council, of Federal agencies with the requisite senior 
        experience to make recommendations to improve Federal agency 
        efficiency, effectiveness, and economy, including in promoting 
        small business contracting.
    (c) Duties of the Council.--The Council, or a working group formed 
under subsection (b), shall--
        (1) convene not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
    of this Act and thereafter on a quarterly basis until the Council 
    submits the report required under subsection (d)(1); and
        (2) conduct outreach with the workforce and the public in 
    meeting the requirements under subsection (d)(1).
    (d) Report.--
        (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
    enactment of this Act, the Council shall submit to the appropriate 
    congressional committees a report that describes--
            (A) innovative acquisition practices and applications of 
        technologies that have worked well in achieving better 
        procurement outcomes, including increased efficiency, improved 
        program outcomes, better customer experience, and meeting or 
        exceeding the goals under section 15(g) of the Small Business 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)), and the reasons why those practices 
        have succeeded;
            (B) steps to identify and adopt transformational commercial 
        business practices, modernized data analytics, and advanced 
        technologies that allow decision making to occur in a more 
        friction-free buying environment and improve customer 
        experience; and
            (C) any recommendations for statutory changes to accelerate 
        the adoption of innovative acquisition practices.
        (2) Briefing.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
    enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the 
    appropriate congressional committees on the means by which the 
    findings and recommendations of the report have been disseminated 
    under paragraph (3).
        (3) Publication and dissemination of report findings.--To 
    promote more rapid adoption of acquisition best practices, the 
    Administrator shall--
            (A) publish the report required under paragraph (1) on the 
        website of the Office of Management and Budget and on the 
        Innovation Hub on the Acquisition Gateway or any successor 
        Government-wide site available for increasing awareness of 
        resources dedicated to procurement innovation; and
            (B) encourage the head of each Federal agency to maintain a 
        site on the website of the Federal agency for acquisition and 
        contracting professionals, program managers, members of the 
        public, and others as appropriate that is--
                (i) dedicated to acquisition innovation; and
                (ii) identifies--

                    (I) resources, including the acquisition innovation 
                advocate and industry liaison of the Federal agency;
                    (II) learning assets for the workforce, including 
                the findings and recommendations made in the report 
                required under paragraph (1);
                    (III) events to build awareness and understanding 
                of innovation activities;
                    (IV) award recognition programs and recent 
                recipients; and
                    (V) upcoming plans to leverage innovative practices 
                and technologies.

    (e) Experts.--In carrying out the duties of the Council under this 
section, the Council is encouraged to consult with governmental and 
nongovernmental experts.
    (f) Termination.--The duties of the Council as set forth in this 
section shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the Council 
conducts the briefing required under subsection (d)(2).

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.