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119-s-4390119th CongressWALLET

Ending Discrimination in Government Contracting Act

Sponsored By: Senator Lee, Mike [R-UT]

Introduced

Summary

This bill would end racial, ethnic, and sex-based preferences in federal contracting and reorient procurement toward a neutral, SBA-centered definition of small business. It would strip many statutory set-asides and reporting rules tied to social or economic disadvantage and replace them with a streamlined, regulation-driven eligibility framework.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

5 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 5 mixed.

Ban race and sex preferences

This bill would bar agency heads from considering owners' race, ethnicity, or sex when awarding federal or defense contracts or awards. It would also bar agencies from requiring contractors or grantees to consider race, ethnicity, or sex when awarding subcontracts or lower-tier awards. Agencies with rules or guidance that require or encourage such consideration would have to propose replacement guidance or rulemaking within 60 days and finish rulemaking within 180 days after enactment.

Remove disadvantaged and women labels

This bill would repeal or rewrite statutes that create set-asides and other preferences for businesses labeled as socially or economically disadvantaged or women-owned. It would strip many statutory references and route contract-level small business definitions to the SBA's general definition and implementing rules. If enacted, firms that relied on those labels could lose special set-aside access, while other small businesses would compete under the same SBA-led definitions.

Shift DOT priority to HUBZone

The bill would change Department of Transportation procurement and reporting to focus more on qualified HUBZone small businesses. It would replace references to minority or disadvantaged business categories in DOT law with HUBZone references and narrow related reporting requirements. If your firm is HUBZone-certified, you would likely gain more priority for DOT grants and airport improvement project contracting.

ARPA shifts priority to veterans

The bill would change certain American Rescue Plan Act grant language so veteran-owned small businesses get the priority that had been given to women-owned firms. It would redefine "eligible business" to mean any small business concern with priority for veteran-owned firms. If your business is veteran-owned, you would get higher priority when these ARPA-linked grants are awarded.

SBA reports add cooperatives

This bill would require the Small Business Administration to report how many loans and financings go to cooperatives. It would also remove some statutory labels for small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and by women from SBA reporting and program language. If you run a cooperative, your loan and financing counts would be more visible in SBA reports.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Lee, Mike [R-UT]

UT • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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