House raises goal for small biz primes’ procurements to 25%
House’s NDAA boosts more goals: for SDBs, to 15%; for WOSBs, to 7%; and for SDVOSBs and HUBZone, 4%
The Democratic-controlled House approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 on Sept. 23, including several amendments impacting small federal contractors.
The most significant was an amendment sponsored by Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-MD, which would raise the government’s goal for procurements from small business prime contractors to 25%, up from 23%.
The measure also raised the goal for Small Disadvantaged Business procurements to 15%, up from 5%; for Women-Owned Small Businesses to 7%, up from 5%; and for HUBZone small firms and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses to 4%, up from 3% currently.
The change to 25% may not mean that much in practical terms. The government exceeded 25% in small business prime procurements in each of the last three fiscal years during a period of record-high contract spending. It has met the 23% goal for the last 8 years in a row.
The vote on Mfume’s amendment was fairly close: 219 to 202. All Democrats voted in favor. Only five Republicans supported the amendment while 202 Republicans voted against it.
That is a broad shift away from how Republicans previously viewed the potential 25% goal the last time it was approved in House legislation in 2012. (See story).
The small business amendments in the House NDAA will not become law unless it is approved by the Senate, which has not yet considered its own version of the NDAA. House and Senate members will then hash out a final version together.
The 25% goal for small business primes and the 4% goals for SDVOSBs and HUBZone firms would go into effect immediately if those provisions are in the final version of the law.
The SDB goal would rise to 11% in fiscal 2022; 12% in fiscal 2023; 13% in fiscal 2024 and 15% in fiscal 2025.
The WOSB goal would increase to 6% in fiscal 2022 and 2023 and to 7% in fiscal 2024.
Read the Mfume Amendment (#26) at https://bit.ly/3F7MR0H.
Here are summaries of the other small business amendments to the House’s NDAA legislation--HR4250--potentially affecting small federal contractors:
- Category management exemptions (#186): Amendment by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-PA, creates an exemption from category management procedural requirements for Tier Zero contracts, including 8(a) contracts. These contracts are not allowed to be counted toward category management goals. Read the amendment at https://bit.ly/2Y88tc4.
- HUBZone price preferences (#314): Amendment by Rep. Marie Newman, D-IL, clarifying that the HUBZone price preference applies to task orders. Read at https://bit.ly/2ZFd06C
- OHA to rule on HUBZone status protests (#352): Amendment by Rep. Amata Radewagen, R-AS, transfers adjudications of HUBZones status protests to SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). Previously such cases were heard by the SBA’s Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development. Read at https://bit.ly/3mftoma.
- Sole-source thresholds (#365): Amendment by Rep. Maria Salazar, R-FL, lifts sole source thresholds for certain 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSBs and WOSBs from current levels to $10 million for manufacturing contracts and $8 million for other types of contracts. Read at https://bit.ly/2Y5l4wL
- Report on CMMC impact (#337): Amendment by Rep. Dean Phillips, D-MN, requires the Defense Dept. to report within 120 days on the impact of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program on small businesses. Read at https://bit.ly/3a1uWdu.
- Cyber strategy counseling at SBDCs (#149): Authorizes cyber strategy training for employees of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs). Establishes a program for cyber planning certifications for SBDC employees. SBA may reimburse SBDCs for such employee certifications up to $350,000 per fiscal year. Read at https://bit.ly/3B1eEgB.
- Surety Bonds: Amendment by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, who chairs the House Small Business Committee. The provision “ensures that the protections afforded to small businesses and taxpayers through surety bonds are not lost in smaller contracts due to continual adjustments for inflation,” according to a committee news release (https://bit.ly/2Ya7F6M)
- Flexibility on 8(a) waivers: The measure “streamlines the 8(a) waiver process required when ownership and control of the 8(a) business passes to another 8(a) by enabling the Administrator to delegate the waiver determination,” and provides additional flexibility, according to a House Small Business Committee news release (https://bit.ly/2Ya7F6M).
- Manufacturing pilot program (#82): Creates a pilot program on digitally-secured manufacturing technologies. Read at https://bit.ly/3uDkx1h
- Report on mergers and acquisitions (#165): Orders a report on impact of mergers and acquisitions on the defense industrial base. Read at https://bit.ly/3utZIVS.
