Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., has proposed a bill that seeks to enhance the federal subcontracting process for small businesses by improving the transparency of the process.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. This bill will help to ensure that small businesses—especially women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses—can compete for federal contract opportunities on a level playing field,” Casey said in a statement published Wednesday.
The proposed Ensuring Efficiency and Fairness in Federal Subcontracting Act would advance transparency by allowing small companies included in a subcontracting plan to seek updates from prime contractors on the status of relevant federal contracts.
The measure would direct the Government Accountability Office to study the use of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System, a.k.a. CPARS, scores to better understand whether prime contractors’ behavior toward small subcontractors can impact such scores.
The bill would also permit agencies to include warnings and penalties for prime contractors for failing to meet small business utilization goals on incentive contracts.
The senator’s proposed legislation would require agencies to perform outreach events to raise awareness of small business subcontracting opportunities through online engagements and webinars, among others.
Under the legislation, the General Service Administration would be required to modernize the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System and help ensure compliance with small business subcontracting plans.