,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #beej ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #bg1 #bjac ,mr4 ,rush introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,small ,business ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,small ,business ,act to enhance services to small business concerns that are disadvantaged1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,minority ,small ,business ,enhancement ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,enhancement of services to small businesses that are disadvantaged 7a7 ,net worth ,section #h7;a77#f77;,a7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fcg7;a77#f77;,a77 is amended by inserting after disadvantaged individual4 the following3 ,for purposes of eligibility for admission as a ,program ,participant and for continued eligibility after admission1 the net worth of such individual may be any amount less than #a1ejj1jjj44 7b7 ,time limit on participation ,section #g7;j77#ae7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fcf7;j77#ae77 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 as clauses 7i7 and 7ii71 respectively2 7#b7 by inserting 7,a7 after 7#ae72 and 7#c7 by adding at the end the following3 7,b7 ,no time limitation relating to the period that a small business concern may receive developmental assistance under the ,program and contracts under section #h7;a7 shall apply to a small business concern that has not completed a contract under section #h7;a74 4 #c4 ,bundled contracts 7a7 ,definition ,section #c7o7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fcb7o77 is amended to read as follows3 7o7 ,definitions of bundling of contract requirements and related terms ,for purposes of this ,act3 7#a7 ,bundled contract 7,a7 ,in general ,the term bundled contract means a contract or order that is entered into to meet procurement requirements that are consolidated in a bundling of contract requirements1 without regard to its designation by the procuring agency or whether a study of the effects of the solicitation on civilian or military personnel has been made4 7,b7 ,exceptions ,the term does not include-- 7i7 a contract or order with an aggregate dollar value below the dollar threshold specified in paragraph 7#e72 or 7ii7 a contract or order that is entered into to meet procurement requirements1 all of which are exempted requirements under paragraph 7#f74 7#b7 ,bundling of contract requirements 7,a7 ,in general ,the term bundling of contract requirements means the use of any bundling methodology to satisfy #b or more procurement requirements for goods or services previously supplied or performed under separate smaller contracts or orders1 or to satisfy #b or more procurement requirements for construction services of a type historically performed under separate smaller contracts or orders1 that is likely to be unsuitable for award to a small business concern due to-- 7i7 the diversity1 size1 or specialized nature of the elements of the performance specified2 7ii7 the aggregate dollar value of the anticipated award2 7iii7 the geographical dispersion of the contract or order performance sites2 or 7iv7 any combination of the factors described in clauses 7i71 7ii71 and 7iii74 7,b7 ,inclusion of new features or functions ,a combination of contract requirements that would meet the definition of a bundling of contract requirements but for the addition of a procurement requirement with at least one new good or service shall be considered to be a bundling of contract requirements unless the new features or functions substantially transform the goods or services and will provide measurably substantial benefits to the government in terms of quality1 performance1 or price4 7,c7 ,exceptions ,the term does not include-- 7i7 the use of a bundling methodology for an anticipated award with an aggregate dollar value below the dollar threshold specified in paragraph 7#e72 or 7ii7 the use of a bundling methodology to meet procurement requirements1 all of which are exempted requirements under paragraph 7#f74 7#c7 ,bundling methodology ,the term bundling methodology means-- 7,a7 a solicitation to obtain offers for a single contract or order1 or a multiple award contract or order2 or 7,b7 a solicitation of offers for the issuance of a task or a delivery order under an existing single or multiple award contract or order4 7#d7 ,separate smaller contract ,the term separate smaller contract1 with respect to bundling of contract requirements1 means a contract or order that has been performed by #a or more small business concerns or was suitable for award to #a or more small business concerns4 7#e7 ,dollar threshold ,the term dollar threshold means #fe1jjj1jjj1 if solely for construction services1 and #e1jjj1jjj with respect to all other circumstances4 7#f7 ,exempted requirements ,the term exempted requirement means a procurement requirement solely for items that are not commercial items 7as the term commercial item is defined in section #d7ab7 of the ,office of ,federal ,procurement ,policy ,act 7#da ,u4,s4,c4 #djc7ab774 7#g7 ,procurement requirement ,the term procurement requirement means a determination by an agency that a specified good or service is needed to satisfy the mission of the agency4 4 7b7 ,proposed procurement requirements ,section #ae7;a7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fdd7;a77 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking necessary and justified4 and inserting necessary and justified1 as well as identifying information on the incumbent contract holders1 a description of the industries which might be interested in bidding on the contract requirements1 and the number of small businesses listed in the industry categories that could be excluded from future bidding if the contract is combined or packaged42 and 7#b7 by striking the sentence beginning ,whenever the ,administration and the contracting procurement agency fail to agree1 and inserting the following3 ,whenever the ,administration and the contracting procurement agency fail to agree1 the ,administrator may review the proposed procurement1 may delay the solicitation process for not more than #aj days to make recommendations1 and the matter shall be submitted to the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget to mediate the disagreement44 #d4 ,federal contracting goals 7a7 ,increase in certain goals ,section #ae7;g77#a7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fdd7;g77#a77 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking not less than #bc percent and inserting not less than #be percent2 and 7#b7 by striking not less than #e percent each place it appears and inserting not less than #aj percent4 7b7 ,limitation on number of categories for which a business may qualify ,section #ae7;g7 of the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fdd7;g77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7#c7 ,for purposes of this subsection and subsection 7h71 with respect to each procurement contract a small business concern may not qualify as more than #b specified categories1 regardless of whether such small business concern satisfies the definition of more than #b specified categories4 ,the specified categories are small business concerns1 small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans1 qualified ,h,u,b,zone small business concerns1 small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals1 and small business concerns owned and controlled by women4 4 7c7 ,government accountability office study ,not later than ,october #a1 #bjad1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct and submit to ,congress a report describing the results of a study on disparities in the awarding of ,federal contracts to procure goods or services with respect to small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals1 small business concerns1 and other business concerns4