[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 110 (Wednesday, August 1, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        PROCUREMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 31, 2001

  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, small business participation in government 
procurement is dropping. While the dollar value of procurement 
opportunities is relatively constant, the absolute number of small 
businesses winning government contracts has dramatically decreased over 
the past four years.
  One possible solution to this problem can be to enhance the role of 
Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs). During the 1980's, 
Congress created local PTACs around the country to increase small 
business participation in defense procurement. Modeled after Small 
Business Development Centers (SDBCs) run by the Small Business 
Administration (SBA), these centers offer free advice and help to small 
businesses both in educating them about how to get involved in 
government procurement and also how to obtain contracts. Most of the 
PTACs are co-located in a local higher education institution or a 
Chamber of Commerce. About half of the funding for most of the PTACs 
comes from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The remainder comes from 
the state government and/or the local host (i.e., the community 
college). States currently have a choice: they can either ask for up to 
$300,000 to run a state-wide program or regional centers can ask for up 
to $150,000 to run a program locally.
  Some states have decided to run a state-wide program in order to have 
continuity of service throughout the state. However, some states do not 
care and have allowed regional or city PTACs to operate. Currently, 15 
states have regional or city PTACs that receive an excess of $300,000. 
This penalizes states like my home state of Illinois who have opted for 
a ``good government'' solution--a seamless delivery of procurement 
assistance services throughout the state.
  I have introduced the Procurement Technical Assistance Improvement 
Act to increase the DLA grant match to states that run a state-wide 
PTAC program so that they would be able to receive up to $600,000 in 
funding, double the current level of $300,000. This would potentially 
benefit the 29 states and the one territory that have a state-wide PTAC 
program and the six states and the four other territories that do not 
have any PTAC program. It is important to remember that each state with 
a state-wide run PTAC program would not automatically receive a 
$600,000 grant from the DLA because each proposal would have to stand 
on its own merits. Currently, 10 states and one territory do not even 
receive the full $300,000 in grant funds from the DLA for a state-wide 
PTAC program. Thus, this proposal does not necessarily mean that the 
cost of the program would balloon. Only those states that submit a 
sound proposal who serve a large population would qualify for a maximum 
of $600,000. Finally, this proposal would not mean that states with 
regional centers would receive less funding. This proposal is silent on 
the match received from DLA to regional PTACs.
  With the criticism of recent Pentagon procurements that disadvantage 
small businesses, this is one way to remedy the problem. Mr. Speaker, I 
urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

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