Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, both Republicans, introduced the Defense Innovation and Small Business Momentum Act to expand and make the program permanent, enabling more small businesses to bid on Department of Defense contracts.
Current laws and regulations require strict and complicated cost data disclosures for a business to receive certain U.S. Department of Defense contracts.
“Overbearing rules and regulations have made it hard for small businesses to win Department of Defense contracts,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “There is already a temporary solution to help give America’s small businesses a better chance by not requiring as many bureaucratic roadblocks; my bill will make this solution permanent.”
The high cost and complexity of the tools required to meet these regulations have created a barrier to entry for small businesses. As such, the U.S. government created a pilot program that raised the threshold at which cost and pricing data becomes mandatory for small businesses. This program, however, will end in October 2024.
“Bureaucratic tape delays defense production and makes our country less safe,” said Republican Senator Tom Cotton. “This bill will empower our small businesses to receive and fulfill contracts.”
