S. 21 — Introduced in Senate

II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 21 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 6, 2015Mr. Vitter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To ensure efficiency and fairness in the awarding of Federal contracts in connection with natural disaster reconstruction efforts. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Local Disaster Contracting Fairness Act of 2015. 2. Definitions In this Act— (1) the term executive agency has the meaning given that term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code; (2) the term local subcontractor means, with respect to a contract, a subcontractor who has a principal place of business or regularly conducts operations in the area in which work is to be performed under the contract by the subcontractor; and (3) the term natural disaster reconstruction efforts means reconstruction efforts undertaken in an area for which the President has declared a major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170). 3. Federal contracting requirements (a) In general The head of an executive agency may not enter into an agreement for debris removal or demolition services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction efforts unless the agreement specifies that— (1) all of the work under the contract will be performed by the prime contractor or 1 or more subcontractors at 1 tier under the contract; (2) any work performed under the contract by subcontractors will be performed by local subcontractors, except to the extent that local subcontractors are not available to perform such work; (3) the prime contractor will act as the project manager or construction manager for the contract; and (4) the prime contractor— (A) has primary responsibility for managing all work under the contract; and (B) will be paid a certain percentage of the overall value of the contract as sole compensation for assuming the risk associated with such responsibility. (b) Preference for subcontractors affected by natural disasters In entering into an agreement for debris removal or demolition services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction efforts, the head of an executive agency shall give a preference in the source selection process to each offeror who certifies that any work that is to be performed under the contract by subcontractors will be performed by local subcontractors. 4. Applicability The requirements under section 3 shall apply to agreements entered into on or after the date of enactment of this Act.