Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Small Business on March 22, 2012
H.R. 3985 would amend programs that pair disadvantaged small businesses with other eligible businesses (mentor-protégé programs) in order to allow them to participate in set-aside programs for federal contracts. The bill would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to broaden the scope of its mentor-protégé program to cover all small businesses (currently the program is open to a limited pool of participants). The bill also would direct the SBA to develop regulations that would apply to mentor-protégé programs operating in other federal agencies.
Based on information from the SBA and several federal agencies that operate mentor-protégé programs, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3985 would cost $6 million over the 2013-2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3985 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 3985 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
