[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 583 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 583

     To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement 
                  strategies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2021

  Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Ernst, and Mr. Carper) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     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 encourage 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).
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