Bipartisan legislation to help small businesses access federal contracts received a boost this week, unanimously passing out of the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday.
If passed, the Small Business Procurement and Utilization Reform Act would require the U.S. Small Business Administration to consider the number of new small businesses entering the federal contracting market for a federal agency’s performance goals.
The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, and Pete Stauber R-Minnesota. In a statement, Gluesenkamp Perez said, “Even though more federal contracting dollars are making it to small businesses, fewer small businesses are deciding to take up federal contracts.”
“For our local economies to thrive, it’s important that we level the playing field and ensure more Southwest Washington small businesses can benefit from these opportunities,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “As more folks retire from the trades, the middle class will lose out if small businesses can’t clear the regulatory burdens of competing for contracts. I introduced this bipartisan legislation to help ensure our federal government is retaining and bringing in small business contractors — and today’s passage in the House Small Business Committee is another step toward getting this across the finish line.”
The Corrective Action Report Oversight and Accountability Act, which is also sponsored by Gluesenkamp Perez, cleared the committee. That bipartisan legislation ensures agencies meet requirements for federal contracting dollars awarded to women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and small disadvantaged businesses.
