[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.