Plain Language in Contracting Act — House Report 118–471 (April 26, 2024)
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Summary
House Report 118–471 of the 118th Congress, 2d Session, submitted April 26, 2024 by Mr. Williams of Texas from the Committee on Small Business to accompany H.R. 7987, the Plain Language in Contracting Act, with minority views. The Committee reports the bill favorably without amendment; the bill would require covered notices for small business concerns to be clear, concise and accessible and to include keywords. The report lists four hearings held in the 118th Congress, states that the Committee ordered the bill reported on April 17, 2024 with no amendments offered, and gives a section-by-section summary. It states that a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate was requested but not received. The minority views, signed by Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez, cite an SBA FY22 scorecard showing 26.5% of federal contract dollars, or $162.9 billion, went to small businesses.
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“Plain Language in Contracting Act — House Report 118–471 (April 26, 2024).”
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118TH CONGRESS REPORT
" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES !
2d Session 118–471
PLAIN LANGUAGE IN CONTRACTING ACT
APRIL 26, 2024.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of
the Union and ordered to be printed
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas, from the Committee on Small Business,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 7987]
The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 7987) to require plain language and the inclusion of key
words in covered notices that are clear, concise, and accessible to
small business concerns, and for other purposes, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and rec-
ommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Bill Summary ........................................................................ 2
II. Need for Legislation .................................................................................... 2
III. Hearings ....................................................................................................... 2
IV. Committee Consideration ........................................................................... 2
V. Committee Votes ......................................................................................... 2
VI. Section-by-Section of H.R. 7987 ................................................................. 5
VII. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ............................................. 5
VIII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 5
IX. Oversight Findings & Recommendations .................................................. 5
X. Performance Goals and Objectives ............................................................ 6
XI. Statement of Duplication of Federal Programs ........................................ 6
XII. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits ..................................................................................................... 6
XIII. Federal Mandates Statement ..................................................................... 6
XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement ................................................... 6
XV. Applicability to Legislative Branch ........................................................... 6
XVI. Statement of Constitutional Authority ...................................................... 6
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XVII. Minority Views ............................................................................................ 7
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I. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY
On April 15, 2024, Rep. LaLota along with Rep. Thanedar intro-
duced H.R. 7987. The purpose of H.R. 7987, the ‘‘Plain Language
in Contracting Act,’’ is to require federal agencies to write contract
solicitations in a clear and concise way, and to the extent prac-
ticable with the Federal plain language guidelines.
II. NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Small businesses lack the armies of lawyers and specialists that
large companies employ when seeking federal contracts. In order to
prevent the need for this, and to give small businesses a leg up in
federal contracting, this legislation ensures that federal contracting
opportunities are written in plain language.
The number of small businesses winning government contracts
continues to decrease. The burdensome contracting process discour-
ages many successful small businesses from even bidding on one.
The smaller number of small businesses participating in con-
tracting is, in part, exacerbated by the extremely difficult to under-
stand language in government contract solicitations. While existing
contractors have been forced to become accustomed to this lan-
guage, the barrier it creates significantly hurts small businesses
deciding to compete for a government contract for the very first
time.
III. HEARINGS
In the 118th Congress, the Committee held four hearings exam-
ining the issues covered in H.R. 7987. On May 11, 2023, the Com-
mittee held a hearing titled ‘‘Leveling the Playing Field: The State
of Small Business Contracting’’. On February 6, 2024, the Com-
mittee held a hearing titled ‘‘Under the Microscope: Reviewing the
SBA’s Small Business Size Standards.’’ On February 15, 2024, the
Committee held a hearing titled ‘‘Leveling the Playing Field: Chal-
lenges Facing Small Business Contracting’’. On April 16, 2024, the
Committee held a hearing titled ‘‘Exploring SBA Programs’ Review-
ing the SBIC and SBIR Programs’’ Impact on Small Businesses’’.
These hearings examined the causes behind the decline in small
business participation in government contracting.
IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a
quorum being present, on April 17, 2024, and ordered H.R. 7987
reported to the House of Representatives. During the markup no
amendments were offered.
V. COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives requires the Committee to list the recorded votes on the mo-
tion to report legislation and amendments thereto. The Committee
voted to favorably report H.R. 7987 to the House of Representatives
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VI. SECTION-BY-SECTION OF H.R. 7987
Section 1—Short title
This act may be cited as the ‘‘Plain Language in Contracting
Act’’.
Section 2—Accessibility and clarity in covered notices for small
business concerns
This section requires that covered notices in government con-
tracting are written in a clear, concise, and accessible way, and to
the extent practicable consistent with Federal Plain Language
Guidelines.
In each covered notice, keywords will be required in the descrip-
tion to make it easier and quicker to identify what the notice is
about.
The SBA must develop rules to implement this law within 90
days.
DEFINITIONS
Covered notice is defined as a notice pertaining to small business
concerns published by an agency that is published on the govern-
ment procurement website (SAM.gov).
Small business and Federal agency are defined as they are in the
Small Business Act.
VII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of House rule XIII, the Committee
adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974. The Committee has requested but
not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
a cost estimate for the Committee’s provisions. Once available, the
cost estimate will be published in the Congressional Record.
VIII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX
EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives and section 308(a)(I) of the Congressional Budg-
et Act of 1974, the Committee provides the following opinion and
estimate with respect to new budget authority, entitlement author-
ity, and tax expenditures. While the Committee has not received an
estimate of new budget authority contained in the cost estimate
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursu-
ant to Sec. 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Com-
mittee does not believe that there will be any additional costs at-
tributable to this legislation. H.R. 7987 does not direct new spend-
ing, but instead reallocates funding independently authorized and
appropriated.
IX. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
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In accordance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 2(b)(1)
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the over-
sight findings and recommendations of the Committee on Small
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6
Business with respect to the subject matter contained in H.R. 7987
are incorporated into the descriptive portions of this report.
X. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of
the Rules of the House of Representatives, there are no perform-
ance goals and objectives of H.R. 7987 applicable.
XI. STATEMENT OF DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, no provision of H.R. 7987 is known to be dupli-
cative of another Federal program, including any program that was
included in a report to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public
Law 111–139 or the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic As-
sistance.
XII. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED
TARIFF BENEFITS
With respect to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee finds that the bill does not con-
tain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of rule XXI of
the Rules of the House of Representatives.
XIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal man-
dates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
XIV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation.
XV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or
accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Con-
gressional Accountability Act.
XVI. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of the Rules of the House, the
Committee finds that the authority for this legislation in Art. I, § 8,
cl.1 of the Constitution of the United States.
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XVII. MINORITY VIEWS
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is tasked with ensur-
ing that small businesses are awarded a ‘‘fair proportion of the
total purchases and contracts for goods and services of the Govern-
ment in each industry category. . . .’’ In accordance with this man-
date, Congress has imposed a governmentwide goal of awarding at
least 23% of all small business eligible Federal prime contracting
dollars to small businesses. SBA’s FY22 scorecard showed that the
federal government awarded 26.5% of federal contract dollars to
small businesses, a total of $162.9 billion.1
At the same time that the amount of prime contract dollars
awarded to small businesses has reached record highs, the number
of small businesses in the industrial base has declined dramati-
cally. The federal government has documented a roughly 40% de-
crease in the number of small businesses receiving prime contract
awards over the past decade. The data show that the federal gov-
ernment is not retaining current small business government con-
tractors, and new small businesses are not choosing to enter the
federal market.
Current procedures around small business procurements require
federal agencies to conduct market research, request proposals, and
issue solicitations by posting notices on the government’s SAM.gov
website. These documents identify what the agency intends to buy
and the procedures they will use to do it, and interested companies
then submit proposals, bids and other information in response.
Some stakeholders have raised concerns about the complexity of
the requirements for contracting with the federal government, es-
pecially for small businesses seeking to contract with the govern-
ment for the first time. This complexity can translate into con-
tracting documents, which may be unfamiliar to a small business
who has not previously entered into a contract with the federal
government. The government-unique processes and wording can
differ from commercial practices in a way that may discourage com-
panies from doing work with the government.
NYDIA M. VELÁZQUEZ,
Ranking Member.
Æ
1 U.S. Small Bus. Admin, FY 2022 Governmentwide Small Business Procurement Scorecard,
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https://www.sba.gov/agency-scorecards/scorecard.html?agency=GW&year=2022.
(7)
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