H.R. 1615 — what changed
Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business Adjustment Act
From Reported in House to Engrossed in House. 2 sections amended and 1 added between Reported in House and Engrossed in House.
Sec. 5 Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans
Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-Disabled veterans— Section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended—
by striking subsections (d) and (e);
by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and (c) as subsections (c), (d), and (e) respectively;
by inserting before subsection (c), as so redesignated, the following:
“(a) Contracting officer defined—For purposes of this section, the term contracting officer has the meaning given such term in section 2101 of title 41, United States Code.
“(b) Certification of small business concerns owned and controlled by service-Disabled veterans—With respect to a procurement program or preference established under this Act that applies to prime contractors, the Administrator shall—
“(1) certify the status of the concern as a “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans”; and
“(2) require the periodic recertification of such status.”
in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by striking “and that the award can be made at a fair market price” and inserting “, that the award can be made at a fair market price, and if each concern is certified by the Administrator as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Certification requirement—Notwithstanding subsection (c), a contracting officer may only award a sole source contract to a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans or a contract on the basis of competition restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans if such a concern is certified by the Administrator as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
“(h) Enforcement; penalties
“(1) Verification of eligibility—In carrying out this section, the Administrator shall establish procedures relating to—
“(A) the filing, investigation, and disposition by the Administration of any challenge to the eligibility of a small business concern to receive assistance under this section (including a challenge, filed by an interested party, relating to the veracity of a certification made or information provided to the Administration by a small business concern under subsection (b)); and
“(B) verification by the Administrator of the accuracy of any certification made or information provided to the Administration by a small business concern under subsection (b).
“(2) Examinations
“(A) Examination of applicants—The procedures established under paragraph (1) shall provide for a program of examinations by the Administrator of any small business concern making a certification or providing information to the Administrator under subsection (b), to determine the veracity of any statements or information provided as part of such certification or otherwise provided under subsection (b).
“(B) Examination of certified concerns—The procedures established under paragraph (1) shall provide for the examination of risk-based samples of small business concerns certified under subsection (b), or of any small business concern that the Administrator believes poses a particular risk or with respect to which the Administrator receives specific and credible information alleging that the small business concern no longer meets eligibility requirements to be certified as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
“(3) Penalties—In addition to the penalties described in section 16(d), any small business concern that is determined by the Administrator to have misrepresented the status of that concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans for purposes of subsection (b), shall be subject to—
“(A) section 1001 of title 18, United States Code;
“(B) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code; and
“(C) section 8127(g) of title 38, United States Code.
“(i) Provision of data—Upon the request of the Administrator, the head of any Federal department or agency shall promptly provide to the Administrator such information as the Administrator determines to be necessary to carry out subsection (b) or to be able to certify the status of the concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans under section 36A.”
Penalties for misrepresentation— Section 16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is amended—
in subsection (d)(1)—
changed
by striking “,, “, a” and inserting “, a “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans”, a “small business concern owned and controlled by veterans”, a”; and
in paragraph (A), by striking “9, 15, or 31” and inserting “8, 9, 15, 31, 36, or 36A”; and
changed
in subsection (e), by striking “,, “, a” and inserting “, a “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans”, a “small business concern owned and controlled by veterans”, a”.
Sec. 8 Transfer of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administration
Abolishment— The Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs defined under section 74.1 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, is abolished effective on the transfer date.
Transfer of functions— All functions that, immediately before the effective date of this section, were functions of the Center for Verification and Evaluation shall—
on the date of enactment of this Act, be functions of both the Center for Verification and Evaluation and the Small Business Administration, except that the Small Business Administration shall not have any authority to carry out any verification functions of the Center for Verification and Evaluation; and
on the transfer date, be functions of the Small Business Administration.
changed
Transfer of assets— So much of the personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds records employed, used, held, available, or to be made available in connection with a function transferred under this section shall be available to the Small Business Administration at such time or times as the President directs for use in connection with the functions transferred.
References— Any reference in any other Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of or pertaining to a function of the Center for Verification and Evaluation that is transferred under this section is deemed, after the transfer date, to refer to the Small Business Administration.
Sec. 10 Determination of budgetary effects
addedadded The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled “Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation” for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.