(WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 17, 2024) – Today, U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and Congressman Mark Alford (R-MO) introduced the Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act, a bipartisan initiative to improve transparency and accountability in the bidding process for small, minority, and women-owned businesses aiming to provide their products or services to the federal government.
“Our nation’s small, minority, and women-owned businesses embody the resiliency and determination of the American dream and are a driving force in our economy. However, the current bidding process for small businesses hoping to contract with the federal government too often leaves our local entrepreneurs in the dark when a solicitation is canceled without full disclosure,” said Congressman Mfume. “This bipartisan legislation I am introducing, alongside Republican Congressman Alford, would provide small businesses with total transparency regarding canceled solicitations, which will in turn empower them to amend their business strategies and plan for future bids going forward,” he concluded.
Congressman Alford stated: “Small businesses are the lifeblood of this nation, and right now government agencies are not doing everything they can to support them. I’m proud to co-lead the Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act to address this issue. This legislation will require agencies to be accountable when they cancel contract solicitations, leaving small businesses to face thousands or tens of thousands of dollars lost. Additionally, this bill would force the existing Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to help small businesses find contracting opportunities,” he said.
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. When responding to a solicitation, small businesses can spend significant time and costs to prepare a proposal.
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.
Background Information – 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.