[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 986 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 986

To require the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Small 
   Business Administration to enter into an agreement to coordinate 
government contracting assistance offered by small business development 
         centers and APEX Accelerators, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2023

Mr. Pappas (for himself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 
  to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Small 
   Business Administration to enter into an agreement to coordinate 
government contracting assistance offered by small business development 
         centers and APEX Accelerators, 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 ``Coordinating Our Local Liaisons And 
Bringing Out Related Agency Technical Expertise Act'' or the 
``COLLABORATE Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall--
            (1) enter into an interagency agreement to coordinate the 
        government contracting and procurement assistance offered to 
        small business concerns by small business development centers 
        and APEX Accelerators; and
            (2) jointly submit to the Committees on Armed Services and 
        Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committees on Armed Services and Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship of the Senate such interagency agreement.
    (b) Contents.--The interagency agreement required under subsection 
(a) shall--
            (1) ensure that government contracting and procurement 
        assistance provided by covered centers is provided by employees 
        of the covered center who have training on government 
        contracting and procurement;
            (2) provide for the allocation of resources and 
        responsibilities between small business development centers and 
        APEX Accelerators to--
                    (A) prevent small business concerns from receiving 
                duplicative assistance or contradictory or confusing 
                information from covered centers;
                    (B) ensure that the activities of a covered center, 
                including any assistance or other services provided by 
                such covered center, are attributed only to such 
                covered center; and
                    (C) clarify the responsibilities of employees of 
                small business development centers and the 
                responsibilities of employees of APEX Accelerators when 
                a small business development center and APEX 
                Accelerator share a location; and
            (3) provide a framework enabling small business development 
        centers and APEX Accelerators to coordinate the provision of 
        government contracting and procurement assistance to small 
        business concerns, as appropriate.
    (c) Progress Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of Small Business 
Administration shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the 
Administrator and the Secretary of Defense with respect to the 
establishment of the interagency agreement required under subsection 
(a).
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) APEX accelerator.--The term ``APEX Accelerator'' means 
        a center operating under a cooperative agreement with the 
        Office of Small Business Programs to provide procurement 
        technical assistance pursuant to the authority provided in 
        chapter 388 of title 10, United States Code.
            (2) Covered center.--The term ``covered center'' means a 
        small business development center or an APEX Accelerator.
            (3) Office of small business programs.--The term ``Office 
        of Small Business Programs'' means the office established 
        within the Office of the Secretary of Defense under section 
        15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)).
            (4) Small business concern.--The term ``small business 
        concern'' has the meaning given such term under section 3 of 
        the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
            (5) Small business development center.--The term ``small 
        business development center'' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
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