S. 3964 — Contract Our Veterans Act of 2026

This section establishes a new section 36B in the Small Business Act authorizing federal contracting preferences for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. It (1) permits contracting officers—defined per 41 U.S.C. 2101—to award sole source contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold to such concerns determined to be responsible, at fair and reasonable prices not exceeding limits in section 36(c)(2) that offer best value; (2) requires competition restricted to such concerns when the officer reasonably expects two or more offers at fair and reasonable prices offering best value; and (3) limits eligibility to concerns and their veteran owners listed in the database under section 36(f)(1). (Thus, these authorities expand beyond existing set-asides primarily available to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.)

This section amends governmentwide small business contracting goals (15 U.S.C. 644(g)) to include small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans (VOSB) alongside small business concerns owned and controlled by women and others, and establishes a goal of not less than 5% of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards for VOSB participation for each fiscal year (previously no specified goal for VOSB). The section further expands annual agency reporting requirements (15 U.S.C. 644(h)(2)) to include VOSB data—(1) inserted after women-owned data in existing categories and (2) via a new category (ix) covering aggregate awards, sole source contracts, competitions restricted to small businesses or VOSB, unrestricted competition, post-award changes in VOSB status, and set-asides limited to VOSB, service-disabled VOSB, HUBZone, disadvantaged, or women-owned businesses.

This section incorporates small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans under new section 36B of the Small Business Act into multiple Small Business Administration (SBA) federal procurement programs and requirements, including (1) duties of Business Opportunity Specialists and Commercial Market Representatives; (2) consideration of offers under the section 8(a) program; (3) best-in-class procurement addendum goals; (4) Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization; (5) the Scorecard Program, with new reporting on the number (as a percentage) and dollar amount of awards to such concerns through sole source contracts and competitions restricted to them; (6) mentor-protégé program reporting; and (7) limitations on subcontracting, including exemptions for such concerns and their subcontractors. (Thus, these changes extend procurement set-asides, goals, tracking, and subcontracting flexibilities previously available to other small business categories—such as those owned by service-disabled veterans (section 36), women, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals—to all veteran-owned small businesses.)