Plain Language in Contracting Act — House Report 119-34 (March 24, 2025)
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Summary
House Report 119–34 of the 119th Congress, submitted March 24, 2025 by Mr. Williams of Texas from the Committee on Small Business to accompany H.R. 787, the Plain Language in Contracting Act, together with minority views. The committee reports the bill favorably with an amendment that requires covered notices for small business concerns to be clear, concise and well-organized and to include key words, and directs the Small Business Administration to issue rules within 90 days. The report describes a February 5, 2025 hearing and a March 5, 2025 markup at which the committee ordered the bill reported. The minority views, signed by Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez, cite a 23% governmentwide small business contracting goal and an FY23 figure of $178 billion awarded to small businesses.
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“Plain Language in Contracting Act — House Report 119-34 (March 24, 2025).”
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119TH CONGRESS REPORT
" HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES !
1st Session 119–34
PLAIN LANGUAGE IN CONTRACTING ACT
MARCH 24, 2025.—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. 787]
The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 787) 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 with an amendment and rec-
ommends that the bill as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Bill Summary ........................................................................ 2
II. Need for Legislation .................................................................................... 2
III. Hearings ....................................................................................................... 2
IV. Committee Consideration ........................................................................... 3
V. Committee Votes ......................................................................................... 3
VI. Section-by-Section of H.R. 787 ................................................................... 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 ............................................................ 5
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
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XVI. Statement of Constitutional Authority ...................................................... 6
XVII. Minority Views ............................................................................................ 7
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The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Plain Language in Contracting Act’’.
SEC. 2. ACCESSIBILITY AND CLARITY IN COVERED NOTICES FOR SMALL BUSINESS CON-
CERNS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each covered notice shall be written in a manner—
(1) such that a small business concern can easily understand the intent of the
covered notice; and
(2) that—
(A) is clear, concise, and well-organized; and
(B) to the maximum extent practicable, follows other best practices appro-
priate to the subject or field of the covered notice and the intended audience
of the covered notice.
(b) INCLUSION OF KEY WORDS IN COVERED NOTICES.—Each covered notice shall,
to the maximum extent practicable, include key words in the description of the cov-
ered notice such that a small business concern seeking contract opportunities using
the single Government-wide point of entry described under section 1708 of title 41,
United States Code, can easily identify and understand such covered notice.
(c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue rules to
carry out this section.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) COVERED NOTICE.—The term ‘‘covered notice’’ means a notice pertaining
to small business concerns published by a Federal agency on the single Govern-
ment-wide point of entry described under section 1708 of title 41, United States
Code.
(2) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘Federal agency’’ and
‘‘small business concern’’ have the meanings given those terms, respectively, in
section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.
No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act or
the amendments made by this Act.
I. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY
On January 28, 2025, Rep. LaLota, along with Rep. Tran and
Rep. Thanedar, introduced H.R. 787, the Plain Language in Con-
tracting Act. H.R. 787 requires federal agencies to write contract
solicitations in a clear and concise manner, to the maximum extent
practicable.
II. NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The number of small businesses engaged in federal contracting
has dropped precipitously over the past ten years. This is, in part,
driven by the complexity of the language in federal contracts. The
complexity of these contracts often discourages many businesses
from competing for a federal government contract.
Small businesses are typically experts in their chosen fields, not
in the law or federal contracting. Overly burdensome contracts re-
quire many small firms to hire attorneys and contract specialists
to ensure compliance with agreements terms. This serves as a mas-
sive barrier to small business participation in government con-
tracting. Ensuring contracts are written in an understandable
manner will expand contracting opportunities to more small busi-
nesses.
III. HEARINGS
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On February 5, 2025, the Committee on Small Business held a
hearing examining matters related to H.R. 787 titled ‘‘Hope on the
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Horizon: Prioritizing Small Business Growth in the 119th Con-
gress.’’
IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a
quorum being present, on March 5, 2025, and ordered H.R. 787, as
amended, to be reported favorably to the House of Representatives.
During the markup the Committee adopted an amendment in the
nature of a substitute offered by Representative LaLota by voice
vote.
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. 787, as amended, to the House of
Representatives at 11:45 AM.
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VI. SECTION-BY-SECTION OF H.R. 787
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.
VII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursu-
ant to section 402 of the Congressional 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.
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. 787 does not direct new spend-
ing, but instead reallocates funding independently authorized and
appropriated.
IX. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
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
Business with respect to the subject matter contained in the H.R.
787 are incorporated into the descriptive portions of this report.
X. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of
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the Rules of the House of Representatives, there are no perform-
ance goals and objectives of H.R. 787 applicable.
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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. 787 is known to be duplica-
tive 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
mandate, Congress has imposed a governmentwide goal of award-
ing at least 23% of all small business eligible Federal prime con-
tracting dollars to small businesses. SBA’s FY23 scorecard showed
that the federal government awarded 28.4% of federal contract dol-
lars to small businesses, a total of $178 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,
the procedures they will use to buy it, and their deadlines. Inter-
ested companies then submit proposals, bids and other information
in response.
Many stakeholders raise concerns about the complexity of the re-
quirements for contracting with the government, especially for
small businesses seeking a federal contract for the first time. This
complexity can be compounded by the language used in contracting
documents, which may be unfamiliar to a small business with no
previous government work. The government-unique processes and
wording can differ from commercial practices in a way that may
discourage companies from doing work with the government.
NYDIA M. VELÁZQUEZ,
Ranking Member.
Æ
1 Press Release, U.S. SMALL BUS. ADMIN., Biden-Harris Administration Awards Record-Break-
ing $178 Billion in Federal Procurement Opportunities to Small Businesses (Apr. 29, 2024),
https://www.sba.gov/article/2024/04/29/biden-harris-administration-awards-record-breaking-178-
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billion-federal-procurement-opportunities.
(7)
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