,,ii #aadth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #baci ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,october #f1 #bjae ,mr4 ,vitter 7for himself and ,mrs4 ,shaheen7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,small ,business and ,entrepreneurship ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,small ,business ,act to prohibit the use of reverse auctions for the procurement of covered contracts4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,small ,contractors ,improve ,competition ,act of #bjae4 #b4 ,limitations on reverse auctions 7a7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that1 when used appropriately1 reverse auctions may improve procurement by the ,federal ,government of commercially available commodities by increasing competition1 reducing prices1 and improving opportunities for small businesses4 7b7 ,limitations on reverse auctions ,the ,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fca et seq47 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating section #dg as section #dh2 and 7#b7 by inserting after section #df the following3 #dg4 ,limitations on reverse auctions for covered contracts 7a7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term contracting officer has the meaning given the term in section #baja of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#b7 the term covered contract means a contract-- 7,a7 for design and construction services2 7,b7 for goods purchased to protect ,federal employees1 members of the ,armed ,forces1 or civilians from bodily harm2 or 7,c7 for goods or services other than those goods or services described in subparagraph 7,a7 or 7,b7-- 7i7 to be awarded based on factors other than price and technical responsibility2 or 7ii7 if awarding the contract requires the contracting officer to conduct discussions with the offerors about their offer2 7#c7 the term design and construction services means-- 7,a7 site planning and landscape design2 7,b7 architectural and interior design2 7,c7 engineering system design2 7,d7 performance of construction work for facility1 infrastructure1 and environmental restoration projects2 7,e7 delivery and supply of construction materials to construction sites2 7,f7 construction1 alteration1 or repair1 including painting and decorating1 of public buildings and public works2 and 7,g7 architectural and engineering services1 as defined in section #aajb of title #dj1 ,united ,states ,code2 7#d7 the term responsible source has the meaning given the term in section #aac of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code2 and 7#e7 the term reverse auction1 with respect to procurement by an agency1 means an auction between a group of offerors who compete against each other by submitting offers for a contract or task or delivery order with the ability to submit revised offers with lower prices throughout the course of the auction4 7b7 ,prohibition on using reverse auctions for covered contracts ,in the case of a covered contract1 a reverse auction may not be used if the award of the covered contract is to be made under-- 7#a7 section #h7;a72 7#b7 section #h7m72 7#c7 section #ae7;a72 7#d7 section #ae7;j72 7#e7 section #ca2 or 7#f7 section #cf4 7c7 ,limitations on using reverse auctions ,in the case of the award of a contract made under paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#f7 of subsection 7b7 that is not a covered contract1 a reverse auction may be used for the award of such a contract only if the following requirements are met3 7#a7 ,decisions regarding use of a reverse auction ,subject to paragraph 7#b71 the following decisions with respect to such a contract shall only be made by a contracting officer3 7,a7 ,a decision to use a reverse auction as part of the competition for award of such a contract4 7,b7 ,any decision made after the decision described in subparagraph 7,a7 regarding the appropriate evaluation criteria1 the inclusion of vendors1 the acceptability of vendor submissions 7including decisions regarding timeliness71 and the selection of the winner4 7#b7 ,training required 7,a7 ,in general ,only a contracting officer who has received training on the appropriate use and supervision of reverse auctions may use or supervise a reverse auction for the award of such a contract4 7,b7 ,training ,the training described in subparagraph 7,a7 shall be provided by1 or similar to the training provided by1 the ,defense ,acquisition ,university as described in section #hbd of the ,carl ,levin and ,howard ,p4 ,buck ,mc,keon ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjae 7,public ,law #aac-bia2 #abg ,stat4 #cdcf74 7#c7 ,number of offers2 revisions to bids ,a ,federal agency may not award such a contract using a reverse auction if-- 7,a7 only #a offer is received2 or 7,b7 offerors do not have the ability to submit revised bids with lower prices throughout the course of the auction4 7#d7 ,technically acceptable offers ,a ,federal agency awarding such a contract using a reverse auction shall evaluate the technical acceptability of offers only as technically acceptable or unacceptable4 7#e7 ,use of price rankings ,a ,federal agency may not award such a contract using a reverse auction if at any time during the procurement process the ,federal agency misinforms an offeror about the price ranking of the last offer of the offeror submitted in relation to offers submitted by other offerors4 7#f7 ,use of third-party agents ,if a ,federal agency uses a third-party agent to assist with the award of such a contract using a reverse auction1 the ,federal agency shall ensure that-- 7,a7 inherently governmental functions are not performed by private contractors1 including by the third-party agent2 7,b7 information on the past contract performance of offerors created by the third-party agent and shared with the ,federal agency is collected1 maintained1 and shared in compliance with section #aabf of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code2 7,c7 information on whether an offeror is a responsible source that is created by the third-party agent and shared with the ,federal agency is shared with the offeror and complies with section #h7;b77#g72 and 7,d7 disputes between the third-party agent and an offeror may not be used to justify a determination that an offeror is not a responsible source or to otherwise restrict the ability of an offeror to compete for the award of a contract or task4 4