Press Releases

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 789, the Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act, which is co-led by Congressman Mark Alford (MO-04). This bipartisan legislation will bring much-needed transparency and accountability to the federal government’s contract bidding process for small businesses.

Other co-leads of H.R. 789 include Congressmen George Latimer (NY-16) and Kweisi Mfume (MD-07).

Watch Congressman Alford’s remarks on the House floor here or by clicking the image above.

“Small businesses are the innovators, the job creators, and the backbone of our communities,” said Congressman Alford. “Federal agencies are simply not doing enough to open the door for small businesses to compete. The House just passed our Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act to change that. Currently, a small business can dedicate precious time and resources, sometimes thousands of dollars, to submit bids for contracts with the federal government, only to be met with silence, confusion, or outright cancellation of the solicitation, without any explanation. Our legislation will bring long-overdue transparency and accountability to that process. I thank Congressmen Latimer and Mfume for their partnership, and Chairman Williams for his leadership.”

Read the bill text HERE.

Background:

The Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act would require the Small Business Administrator to:

• Issue regulations addressing canceled solicitations for small business contracts to provide for the disclosure of additional information; and
• Require a federal agency’s Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) help small businesses seek additional opportunities if a solicitation on which they made an offer is canceled.

Federal Government Solicitation Cancellation:

• Once a federal agency determines they have a need for certain products or services, the agency’s acquisition personnel will post a solicitation on the federal government’s SAM.gov website for a contract to fill the requirements.
• This solicitation will identify what the agency intends to buy, the procedures they will use to do it, and a deadline for companies to submit bids or proposals.
• When responding to a solicitation, small businesses can spend significant time and costs to prepare a proposal. Federal agencies have broad discretion to amend or cancel solicitations.
• Generally, when an agency cancels a solicitation, the reasons are unknown to offerors and there are no universal requirements that the agency provides any information either to the public or to the companies that have provided an offer.
• There are circumstances where the solicitations have been modified, usually as a result of corrective actions, to the extent that it is simply easier to start over. Agencies may also cancel and then reissue the solicitation for the same work, rather than amend the existing solicitation.
• Other times, the work may no longer be necessary, or the agency may procure the same work in a different way. Additionally, issues can arise due to budget changes or unavailability of funding for the contract.

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