[House Report 118-471]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                            { Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session    }                                            { 118-471

======================================================================



 
                   PLAIN LANGUAGE IN CONTRACTING ACT

                                _______
                                

 April 26, 2024.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Williams of Texas, from the Committee on Small Business, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 7987]

    The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 7987) to require plain language and the inclusion of 
key words in covered notices that are clear, concise, and 
accessible to small business concerns, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
   I. Purpose and Bill Summary........................................2
  II. Need for Legislation............................................2
 III. Hearings........................................................2
  IV. Committee Consideration.........................................2
   V. Committee Votes.................................................2
  VI. Section-by-Section of H.R. 7987.................................5
 VII. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.......................5
VIII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditure5
  IX. Oversight Findings & Recommendations............................5
   X. Performance Goals and Objectives................................6
  XI. Statement of Duplication of Federal Programs....................6
 XII. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff 
      Benefits........................................................6
XIII. Federal Mandates Statement......................................6
 XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement............................6
  XV. Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................6
 XVI. Statement of Constitutional Authority...........................6
XVII. Minority Views..................................................7

                      I. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY

    On April 15, 2024, Rep. LaLota along with Rep. Thanedar 
introduced H.R. 7987. The purpose of H.R. 7987, the ``Plain 
Language in Contracting Act,'' is to require federal agencies 
to write contract solicitations in a clear and concise way, and 
to the extent practicable with the Federal plain language 
guidelines.

                        II. NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Small businesses lack the armies of lawyers and specialists 
that large companies employ when seeking federal contracts. In 
order to prevent the need for this, and to give small 
businesses a leg up in federal contracting, this legislation 
ensures that federal contracting opportunities are written in 
plain language.
    The number of small businesses winning government contracts 
continues to decrease. The burdensome contracting process 
discourages many successful small businesses from even bidding 
on one. The smaller number of small businesses participating in 
contracting is, in part, exacerbated by the extremely difficult 
to understand language in government contract solicitations. 
While existing contractors have been forced to become 
accustomed to this language, the barrier it creates 
significantly hurts small businesses deciding to compete for a 
government contract for the very first time.

                             III. HEARINGS

    In the 118th Congress, the Committee held four hearings 
examining the issues covered in H.R. 7987. On May 11, 2023, the 
Committee held a hearing titled ``Leveling the Playing Field: 
The State of Small Business Contracting''. On February 6, 2024, 
the Committee held a hearing titled ``Under the Microscope: 
Reviewing the SBA's Small Business Size Standards.'' On 
February 15, 2024, the Committee held a hearing titled 
``Leveling the Playing Field: Challenges Facing Small Business 
Contracting''. On April 16, 2024, the Committee held a hearing 
titled ``Exploring SBA Programs' Reviewing the SBIC and SBIR 
Programs'' Impact on Small Businesses''. These hearings 
examined the causes behind the decline in small business 
participation in government contracting.

                      IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a 
quorum being present, on April 17, 2024, and ordered H.R. 7987 
reported to the House of Representatives. During the markup no 
amendments were offered.

                           V. COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded 
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments 
thereto. The Committee voted to favorably report H.R. 7987 to 
the House of Representatives at 11:47 AM.


                  VI. SECTION-BY-SECTION OF H.R. 7987

Section 1--Short title

    This act may be cited as the ``Plain Language in 
Contracting Act''.

Section 2--Accessibility and clarity in covered notices for small 
        business concerns

    This section requires that covered notices in government 
contracting are written in a clear, concise, and accessible 
way, and to the extent practicable consistent with Federal 
Plain Language Guidelines.
    In each covered notice, keywords will be required in the 
description to make it easier and quicker to identify what the 
notice is about.
    The SBA must develop rules to implement this law within 90 
days.

                              DEFINITIONS

    Covered notice is defined as a notice pertaining to small 
business concerns published by an agency that is published on 
the government procurement website (SAM.gov).
    Small business and Federal agency are defined as they are 
in the Small Business Act.

             VII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of House rule XIII, the 
Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The Committee has 
requested but not received from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office a cost estimate for the Committee's 
provisions. Once available, the cost estimate will be published 
in the Congressional Record.

VIII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives and section 308(a)(I) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following opinion and estimate with respect to new budget 
authority, entitlement authority, and tax expenditures. While 
the Committee has not received an estimate of new budget 
authority contained in the cost estimate prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to Sec. 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee does 
not believe that there will be any additional costs 
attributable to this legislation. H.R. 7987 does not direct new 
spending, but instead reallocates funding independently 
authorized and appropriated.

                IX. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
the oversight findings and recommendations of the Committee on 
Small Business with respect to the subject matter contained in 
H.R. 7987 are incorporated into the descriptive portions of 
this report.

                  X. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, there are no 
performance goals and objectives of H.R. 7987 applicable.

            XI. STATEMENT OF DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, no provision of H.R. 7987 is known to 
be duplicative of another Federal program, including any 
program that was included in a report to Congress pursuant to 
section 21 of Public Law 111-139 or the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

 XII. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF 
                                BENEFITS

    With respect to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the bill 
does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 
9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.

                    XIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

               XIV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                XV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               XVI. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

    Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of the Rules of the House, 
the Committee finds that the authority for this legislation in 
Art. I, Sec. 8, cl.1 of the Constitution of the United States.

                          XVII. MINORITY VIEWS

    The Small Business Administration (SBA) is tasked with 
ensuring that small businesses are awarded a ``fair proportion 
of the total purchases and contracts for goods and services of 
the Government in each industry category. . . .'' In accordance 
with this mandate, Congress has imposed a governmentwide goal 
of awarding at least 23% of all small business eligible Federal 
prime contracting dollars to small businesses. SBA's FY22 
scorecard showed that the federal government awarded 26.5% of 
federal contract dollars to small businesses, a total of $162.9 
billion.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\U.S. Small Bus. Admin, FY 2022 Governmentwide Small Business 
Procurement Scorecard, https://www.sba.gov/agency-scorecards/
scorecard.html?agency=GW&year=2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    At the same time that the amount of prime contract dollars 
awarded to small businesses has reached record highs, the 
number of small businesses in the industrial base has declined 
dramatically. The federal government has documented a roughly 
40% decrease in the number of small businesses receiving prime 
contract awards over the past decade. The data show that the 
federal government is not retaining current small business 
government contractors, and new small businesses are not 
choosing to enter the federal market.
    Current procedures around small business procurements 
require federal agencies to conduct market research, request 
proposals, and issue solicitations by posting notices on the 
government's SAM.gov website. These documents identify what the 
agency intends to buy and the procedures they will use to do 
it, and interested companies then submit proposals, bids and 
other information in response.
    Some stakeholders have raised concerns about the complexity 
of the requirements for contracting with the federal 
government, especially for small businesses seeking to contract 
with the government for the first time. This complexity can 
translate into contracting documents, which may be unfamiliar 
to a small business who has not previously entered into a 
contract with the federal government. The government-unique 
processes and wording can differ from commercial practices in a 
way that may discourage companies from doing work with the 
government.
                                        Nydia M. Velazquez,
                                                    Ranking Member.