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December 4, 2014

House Passes Velázquez Women Business Bill

Measure Would Help Female Entrepreneurs Win Federal Work

Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation authored by Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez that would help women-owned businesses secure federal contracts.  The “Women's Procurement Program Equalization Act” passed the House as part of the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization bill on Thursday.

“When it comes to federal procurement, women-owned companies too often face an uphill battle winning their fair share of contracts,” Velázquez noted. “The legislation approved today will mean greater opportunity for female entrepreneurs and a fairer procurement process.”

Velazquez’s measure, H.R. 2452, would build on the Women’s Procurement Program, an initiative Velazquez originally authored in 2000.  Under the bill passed today, contracting officers can now award, when appropriate, sole source contracts to eligible women-owned small businesses.  This measure creates parity between the Women’s Procurement Program and other small and disadvantaged business programs and will allow more contracting dollars to be awarded to participants.  Along with eliminating the current self-certification mechanism, H.R. 2452 also requires the Small Business Administration to create its own certification process.   These two certification measures will reduce fraud and ensure that these contracts are awarded to their intended recipients, women-owned small businesses.  

Women business groups hailed the passage of the bill as a significant improvement to the procurement process.  “The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the inclusion of improvements to the Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business federal contracting program contained in the joint agreement between the House and Senate for the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2015 and extend our deep thanks to Congresswoman Velazquez for her substantial contribution to assuring fair access to federal contracts for women-owned firms,” said Margot Dorfman, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.  “Congresswoman Velazquez is truly the national champion for women business owners.”

As the Ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, Velázquez has long been an advocate for female entrepreneurs and championed their full participation in the Federal marketplace.  However, while the federal government is supposed to ensure women-owned firms receive 5% of federal contracts, agencies routinely miss that mark.  Last year, just $15.4 billion or 4% of federal contracting dollars went to woman-owned firms.   The bill seeks to increase their market share and expand the role of women-owned small businesses within the local and national economies. 

“With 305,000 women-owned businesses in our City, female-entrepreneurs are a driving force in New York’s economy,” Velázquez noted.  “By generating opportunities in the federal marketplace for these firms, we can create jobs locally, while ensuring the federal government obtains quality products and services at good value for the taxpayer.”

The broader legislation containing Velázquez’s bill passed the House with bipartisan support.  In coming days, it is expected to receive Senate approval and be signed into law by the President. 

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