Small Contractors Improve Competition Act of 2015

Summary

Small Contractors Improve Competition Act of 2015 This bill expresses the sense of Congress that, when used appropriately, with respect to federal agency procurement, 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 auction (reverse auction) may improve the federal government's procurement of commercially available commodities by increasing competition, reducing prices, and improving opportunities for small businesses. The Small Business Act is amended to prohibit the use of reverse auctions for certain Small Business Administration federal procurement contracts (covered contracts) for: design and construction services; goods purchased to protect federal employees, members of the Armed Forces, or civilians from bodily harm; or goods or services other than these to be awarded based on factors other than price and technical responsibility, or if awarding the contract requires the contracting officer to conduct discussions with the offerors about their offer. This prohibition applies specifically to any covered contract to be made under the procurement programs for women-owned small business concerns and for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, as well as under the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program. In the case of an award of a non-covered contract, a reverse auction may be used for the award only if specified decisions are made by a contracting officer trained on the appropriate use and supervision of reverse auctions for such contracts. A federal agency may not award such a contract using a reverse auction if: only one offer is received; offerors do not have the ability to submit revised bids with lower prices throughout the course of the auction; or at any time during the procurement process the federal agency misinforms an offeror about the price ranking of the last offer submitted by an offeror.

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Timeline

1. 6 October 2015

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 6 October 2015

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

3. 7 October 2015

   Reported

   Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.

   Source: Committee

4. 2 December 2015

   Calendars

   Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 308.

   Source: Calendars

5. 2 December 2015

   Reported

   Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Reported by Senator Vitter with amendments. Without written report.

   Source: Committee

6. 2 December 2015

   Reported

   Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Reported by Senator Vitter with amendments. Without written report.

   Source: Committee

7. 20 December 2016

   Floor

   By Senator Vitter from Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship filed written report under authority of the order of the Senate of 12/10/2016. Report No. 114-416.

   Source: Floor

8. 20 December 2016

   Committee

   By Senator Vitter from Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship filed written report under authority of the order of the Senate of 12/10/2016. Report No. 114-416.

   Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Reported to Senate · 2 December 2015 · Official file
• Introduced in Senate · 6 October 2015 · Official file

Documents

6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 2 December 2015

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 2 December 2015

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 2 December 2015

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 6 October 2015

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 6 October 2015

  DownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 6 October 2015

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] · D · Sponsor
• · sssb00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → Commonsense Contracting Act of 2015
• related to → Small Contractors Improve Competition Act of 2015
• related to → National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016