Parity for Hubzone Appeals Act of 2020

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. RADEWAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Chabot for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8229, the Parity for HUBZone Appeals Act of 2020. I thank Ms. Houlahan for her collaboration on this important legislation.

SBA's various small business contracting programs support different types of entrepreneurs, from women and service-disabled veterans to minorities and the economically disadvantaged, by providing these businesses with special Federal contracting preferences.

Whether a business holds a specific status is critical in determining whether that company is eligible to compete for these special contract opportunities. Not only does the business have a vested interest in obtaining and maintaining its status, but the Federal Government also has an interest in making sure these special contracts are not awarded to fraudulent firms. If a company is suspected to be ineligible for a status it claims to hold, an interested party can protest the firm's status.

Currently, for Historically Underutilized Business Zone-qualified, or HUBZone-qualified, small businesses, the final arbiter of a firm's special HUBZone status is the Associate Administrator of the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, or AA-GCBD. This differs significantly from SBA's other Federal contracting programs in which SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals, or OHA, is the final decisionmaker of a firm's protested status.

OHA, unlike the AA-GCBD, is an independent office of the SBA. Leaving the appeal decision to the AA-GCBD raises questions of conflict of interest, whereas housing that process at OHA will ensure the decision remains separate and independent from any influence.

Furthermore, the AA-GCBD has many competing priorities and responsibilities in overseeing all the SBA's Federal contracting programs. In contrast, OHA administrative judges are primarily tasked with adjudicating similar types of appeals and, thus, are well trained and well versed in making educated decisions objectively and impartially. Thus, passage of this bill means that small businesses will have a greater chance of having a fair and knowledgeable assessment of their case.

Finally, the AA-GCBD's appeals decisions are currently made in a vacuum. There is no visibility into the reasons why a decision was reached. In contrast, all of OHA's decisions are published online and easily searchable. These opinions are critical for small businesses to obtain a greater understanding of the rules surrounding their eligibility. Therefore, shifting the responsibility to hear HUBZone appeals to OHA will provide the public with much-needed guidance and transparency.

In sum, H.R. 8229 will bring greater parity, fairness, and transparency between SBA's HUBZone program and its other Federal contracting programs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source