[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3971 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3971

  To amend the Small Business Act to require reporting on additional 
     information with respect to small business concerns owned and 
  controlled by women, qualified HUBZone small business concerns, and 
small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2024

Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) 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 require reporting on additional 
     information with respect to small business concerns owned and 
  controlled by women, qualified HUBZone small business concerns, and 
small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, 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 ``Small Business Contracting 
Transparency Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON 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 by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually 
        thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 
        Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a 
        report on small business concerns owned and controlled by 
        women, which shall include, for the fiscal year preceding the 
        date of the report, the following:
                    ``(A) The number of applications for certification 
                as a small business concern owned and controlled by 
                women that have sufficient information for the 
                Administrator to make a certification determination, 
                disaggregated by--
                            ``(i) the number of applications certified;
                            ``(ii) the number of applications denied; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) the number of applications for 
                        which a determination has not been made.
                    ``(B) The number of concerns certified as small 
                business concerns owned and controlled by women by a 
                national certifying entity approved by the 
                Administrator.
                    ``(C) The amount of fees, if any, charged by each 
                national certifying entity for the certification 
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(D) The total dollar amount and total percentage 
                of prime contracts awarded to small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by women pursuant to paragraph (2) 
                or pursuant to a waiver granted under paragraph (3).
                    ``(E) The total dollar amount and total percentage 
                of prime contracts awarded to small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by women pursuant to paragraphs 
                (7) and (8).
                    ``(F) With respect to a contract incorrectly 
                awarded pursuant to this subsection because it was 
                awarded based on an industry in which small business 
                concerns owned and controlled by women are not 
                underrepresented--
                            ``(i) the number of such contracts;
                            ``(ii) the Federal agencies that issued 
                        such contracts; and
                            ``(iii) any steps taken by Administrator to 
                        train the personnel of each Federal agency 
                        described in clause (ii) on the use of the 
                        authority provided under this subsection.
                    ``(G) With respect to an examination described in 
                paragraph (5)(B)--
                            ``(i) the number of examinations due 
                        because of recertification requirements and the 
                        actual number of examinations conducted; and
                            ``(ii) the number of examinations conducted 
                        for any other reason.
                    ``(H) The number of small business concerns owned 
                and controlled by women that were found to be 
                ineligible to be awarded a contract under this 
                subsection as a result of an examination conducted 
                pursuant to paragraph (5)(B) or failure to request an 
                examination pursuant to section 127.400 of title 13, 
                Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor 
                regulation.
                    ``(I) The number of small business concerns owned 
                and controlled by women that were decertified.
                    ``(J) The total number of small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by women.
                    ``(K) Any other information the Administrator 
                determines necessary.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 8(m)(2)(C) of the Small Business 
Act is amended by striking ``paragraph (3)'' and inserting ``paragraph 
(4)''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 
              QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    Section 31 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, 
the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 
the House of Representatives a report on HUBZone small business 
concerns, which shall include, for the fiscal year preceding the date 
of the report, the following:
            ``(1) The number of applications for certification as a 
        qualified HUBZone small business concern that have sufficient 
        information for the Administrator to make a certification 
        determination, disaggregated by--
                    ``(A) the number of applications certified;
                    ``(B) the number of applications denied; and
                    ``(C) the number of applications for which a 
                determination has not been made.
            ``(2) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime 
        contracts awarded to qualified HUBZone small business concerns 
        pursuant to this section.
            ``(3) The total dollar amount and percent of sole source 
        contracts awarded to qualified HUBZone small business concerns 
        under subsection (c)(2)(A).
            ``(4) With respect to an examination described in 
        subsection (d)(5)--
                    ``(A) the number of examinations due because of 
                recertification requirements and the actual number of 
                examinations conducted; and
                    ``(B) the number of examinations conducted for any 
                other reason.
            ``(5) The number of HUBZone small business concerns that 
        were found to be ineligible to be awarded a contract under this 
        subsection as a result of an examination conducted pursuant to 
        subsection (d)(5) or a verification conducted pursuant to 
        subsection (d)(2).
            ``(6) The number of small business concerns that were 
        decertified as qualified HUBZone small business concerns.
            ``(7) The number of qualified HUBZone small business 
        concerns.
            ``(8) Any other information the Administrator determines 
        necessary.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 
              SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.

    Section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, 
the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 
the House of Representatives a report on small business concerns owned 
and controlled by service-disabled veterans, which shall include, for 
the fiscal year preceding the date of the report, the following:
            ``(1) The total number of small business concerns certified 
        as small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
        disabled veterans.
            ``(2) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime 
        contracts awarded to small business concerns owned and 
        controlled by service-disabled veterans pursuant to this 
        section.
            ``(3) The total dollar amount and percent of sole source 
        contracts awarded to owned and controlled by service-disabled 
        veterans pursuant to subsection (c).
            ``(4) With respect to an examination described in 
        subsection (h)(2)--
                    ``(A) the number of examinations due because of 
                recertification requirements and the actual number of 
                such examinations conducted; and
                    ``(B) the number of examinations conducted for any 
                other reason.
            ``(5) The number of small business concerns owned and 
        controlled by service-disabled veterans that were found to be 
        ineligible to be awarded a contract under this subsection as a 
        result of an examination conducted pursuant to subsection 
        (h)(2).
            ``(6) The number of small business concerns decertified as 
        small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
        disabled veterans.
            ``(7) The total number of small business concerns owned and 
        controlled by service-disabled veterans.
            ``(8) Any other information the Administrator determines 
        necessary.''.

SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

    No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act or the amendments made by this Act.
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