[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 583 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 80
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 583
[Report No. 117-26]
To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement
strategies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 3, 2021
Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Carper, and Ms. Collins)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
June 21, 2021
Reported by Mr. Peters, with amendments
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement
strategies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Rigorous and Innovative
Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions Act of
2021'' or the ``PRICE Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) small business participation in the Federal marketplace
is key to ensuring a strong industrial base;
(2) the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988
(Public Law 100-656) sets forth the requirement for the
President to establish Government-wide goals for procurement
contracts awarded to small businesses;
(3) each year, the Small Business Administration works with
each Federal agency to set their respective contracting goals
and publishes a scorecard to ensure that the total of all
Federal agency goals meets the required targets for the Federal
Government;
(4) the Department has received among the highest scorecard
letter grades 10 years in a row and is the largest Federal
agency to have such a track record;
(5) in virtually every segment of the economy of the United
States, including the homeland security community, there are
small businesses working to support the mission and playing a
critical role in delivering efficient and innovative solutions
to the acquisition needs of the Federal Government;
(6) the Procurement Innovation Lab of the Department--
(A) is aimed at experimenting with innovative
acquisition techniques across the Homeland Security
enterprise Enterprise;
(B) provides a forum to test new ideas, share
lessons learned, and promote best practices;
(C) fosters cultural changes that promote
innovation and managed risk taking through a continuous
cycle of testing, obtaining feedback, sharing
information, and retesting where appropriate; and
(D) aims to make the acquisition process more
smooth and innovative within the construct of the
Federal Acquisition Regulation for both the Federal
Government and contractors; and
(7) despite progress in the adoption of new and better
business practices by many Federal agencies, the overall
adoption of modernized business practices and advanced
technologies across the Federal Government remains slow and
uneven.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security, the
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on
Small Business of the House of Representatives.
(3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Chief
Acquisition Officers Council established under section 1311 of
title 41, United States Code.
(4) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(5) Homeland security enterprise enterprise.--The term
``Homeland Security enterprise Enterprise'' has the meaning
given the term in section 2211(h) of the Homeland Security Act
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 661(h)).
(6) Scorecard.--The term ``scorecard'' means the scorecard
described in section 868(b) of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (15 U.S.C. 644 note).
(7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
(8) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means--
(A) a qualified HUBZone small business concern, a
small business concern, a small business concern owned
and controlled by service-disabled veterans, or a small
business concern owned and controlled by women, as
those terms are defined in section 3 of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632);
(B) a small business concern owned and controlled
by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals,
as defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)); or
(C) a small business concern unconditionally owned
by an economically disadvantaged Indian tribe or an
economically disadvantaged Native Hawaiian organization
that qualifies as a socially and economically
disadvantaged small business concern, as defined in
section 8(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
637(a)(4)).
(9) Under secretary.--The term ``Under Secretary'' means
the Under Secretary for Management of the Department.
SEC. 4. PROCUREMENT INNOVATION LAB REPORT.
(a) Report.--The Under Secretary shall publish an annual report on
a website of the Department on Procurement Innovation Lab projects that
have used innovative techniques within the Department to accomplish--
(1) improving or encouraging better competition;
(2) reducing time to award;
(3) cost savings;
(4) better mission outcomes; or
(5) meeting the goals for contracts awarded to small
business concerns under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 644(g)).
(b) Education.--The Under Secretary shall develop and disseminate
guidance and offer training for contracting officers, contracting
specialists, program managers, and other personnel of the Department,
as determined appropriate by the Under Secretary, concerning when and
how to use the innovative procurement techniques of the Department.
(c) Best Practices.--The Under Secretary shall share best practices
across the Department and make available to other Federal agencies
information to improve procurement methods and training, as determined
appropriate by the Under Secretary.
(d) Sunset.--This section shall cease to be effective on the date
that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. COUNCIL.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 45 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall convene the Council to
examine best practices for acquisition innovation in contracting in the
Federal Government, including small business contracting in accordance
with the goals established under section 15(g) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)).
(b) Working Group.--The Council may form a working group to address
the requirements of this section, which, if formed, shall--
(1) be chaired by the Administrator or a designee of the
Administrator; and
(2) be composed of--
(A) the Chief Procurement Officer of the
Department;
(B) Council members from--
(i) the General Services Administration;
(ii) the Department of Defense;
(iii) the Department of the Treasury;
(iv) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(v) the Department of Health and Human
Services;
(vi) the Small Business Administration; and
(vii) such other Federal agencies as
determined by the chair of the Council from
among Federal agencies that have demonstrated
significant, sustained progress using
innovative acquisition practices and
technologies, including for small business
contracting, during each of the 3 years
preceding the date of enactment of this Act;
and
(C) other employees, as determined appropriate by
the chair of the Council, of Federal agencies with the
requisite senior experience to make recommendations to
improve Federal agency efficiency, effectiveness, and
economy, including in promoting small business
contracting.
(c) Duties of the Council.--The Council, or a working group formed
under subsection (b), shall--
(1) convene not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act and thereafter on a quarterly basis until
the Council submits the report required under subsection
(d)(1); and
(2) conduct outreach with the workforce and the public in
meeting the requirements under subsection (d)(1).
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Council shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report that describes--
(A) innovative acquisition practices and
applications of technologies that have worked well in
achieving better procurement outcomes, including
increased efficiency, improved program outcomes, better
customer experience, and meeting or exceeding the goals
under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 644(g)), and the reasons why those practices
have succeeded;
(B) steps to identify and adopt transformational
commercial business practices, modernized data
analytics, and advanced technologies that allow
decision making to occur in a more friction-free buying
environment and improve customer experience; and
(C) any recommendations for statutory changes to
accelerate the adoption of innovative acquisition
practices.
(2) Briefing.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the
appropriate congressional committees on the means by which the
findings and recommendations of the report have been
disseminated under paragraph (3).
(3) Publication and dissemination of report findings.--To
promote more rapid adoption of acquisition best practices, the
Administrator shall--
(A) publish the report required under paragraph (1)
on the website of the Office of Management and Budget
and on the Innovation Hub on the Acquisition Gateway or
any successor Government-wide site available for
increasing awareness of resources dedicated to
procurement innovation; and
(B) encourage the head of each Federal agency to
maintain a site on the website of the Federal agency
for acquisition and contracting professionals, program
managers, members of the public, and others as
appropriate that is--
(i) dedicated to acquisition innovation;
and
(ii) identifies--
(I) resources, including the
acquisition innovation advocate and
industry liaison of the Federal agency;
(II) learning assets for the
workforce, including the findings and
recommendations made in the report
required under paragraph (1);
(III) events to build awareness and
understanding of innovation activities;
(IV) award recognition programs and
recent recipients; and
(V) upcoming plans to leverage
innovative practices and technologies.
(e) Experts.--In carrying out the duties of the Council under this
section, the Council is encourage encouraged to consult with
governmental and nongovernmental experts.
(f) Termination.--The duties of the Council as set forth in this
section shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the Council
conducts the briefing required under subsection (d)(2).
Calendar No. 80
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 583
[Report No. 117-26]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote innovative acquisition techniques and procurement
strategies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 21, 2021
Reported with amendments