Small Business Procurement and Utilization Reform Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, the Small Business Procurement and Utilization Reform Act, also known as the SPUR Act.

I will begin by thanking my colleagues and friends from California and Washington, respectively, Representatives Cisneros and Gluesenkamp Perez, for their support of this legislation.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are the innovators, the job creators, and the driving force behind economic growth.

In Minnesota, small businesses account for over 99 percent of all businesses and employ over half of the workforce. It is no exaggeration to say that the success of our economy is tied to the success of our small businesses.

Despite government set-asides meant to help small businesses compete, participation in Federal contracting has dropped by 50 percent over the past decade. That means fewer small businesses are securing Federal contracts, and fewer are benefiting from the opportunity to grow and innovate.

The Federal Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world. If we are serious about supporting small businesses, we need to ensure they have a fair shot at competing for these contracts.

Right now, the scorecard system measures whether agencies are meeting their small business contracting goals, but it fails to consider how many of those contracts go to first-time participants. Without this data, we don't know if new small businesses are successfully entering the marketplace or if the same firms are winning contracts year after year.

If small businesses can't break into Federal contracting, innovation is stifled, costs for taxpayers increase, and American entrepreneurs lose out on opportunities to grow.

My bill, the SPUR Act, addresses this issue by requiring the SBA to track and report the number of new small business participants into the Federal procurement space. This simple but crucial change will ensure that small businesses, especially new and growing ones, have a fair shot at competing.

Too many Federal agencies fall short of their small business contracting goals, leaving billions of dollars in contracts out of reach for American entrepreneurs. The SPUR Act will provide transparency and accountability, ensuring that the Federal Government is doing its part to support small businesses. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, you are from the great State of New York. Forty-five years ago tonight, Team USA, led by Herb Brooks and 12 Minnesotans, beat Finland for the gold medal, and I congratulate them 45 years later.

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