Small Business Contracting: Action Needed by Those Agencies Whose Advocates Do Not Report to Agency Heads as Required
GAO-11-418
Published: Jun 03, 2011. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2011.
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Highlights
Section 15(k) of the Small Business Act requires that all federal agencies with procurement powers establish an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) to advocate for small businesses. Section 15(k)(3) requires that OSDBU directors be responsible only to and report directly to agency or deputy agency heads. GAO was asked to assess agencies' compliance with the reporting structure and identify the functions OSDBUs performed. GAO reviewed compliance with section 15(k)(3) at 16 agencies--the 7 agencies that each procured more than $15 billion in goods and services in 2009 and 9 that it had previously reported were not complying with this requirement. GAO also surveyed the OSDBU directors at 25 agencies that represented more than 98 percent of civilian obligations and 90 percent of DOD obligations in 2009.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | Agriculture made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess Agriculture's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, in a July 2014 Federal Register notice, Agriculture revised its delegations of authority to reflect that the Assistant Secretary for Administration was no longer the designated OSDBU director. Rather, the official responsible for carrying out the duties of the OSDBU director would report directly to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary. The notice also stated... that offices within the Departmental Management organization would continue to provide general administrative support to the OSDBU. In addition, the OSDBU director's position description as of September 2015 stated that, while the director is under the administrative control of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, the director has direct access to the Secretary and/or Deputy Secretary on all matters related to the OSDBU to ensure top level support for small business efforts and effective implementation of program requirements. The position description also noted that the Deputy Secretary is the rating official for performance and the Secretary is the approving official to ensure the incumbent's expectations and performance are aligned with USDA goals. Finally, the OSDBU director's performance agreement for fiscal year 2015 showed that the Deputy Secretary was the rating official.
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| Department of the Treasury | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | In response to our recommendation, Treasury made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess Treasury's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, the OSDBU director's position description, dated January 2015, now states that the director is appointed by, and reports directly to, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Treasury's organizational chart also shows that the OSDBU director reports directly to the Deputy Secretary. In addition, the OSDBU director provided support...
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| Department of Justice | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | Justice made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess Justice's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, in an October 2011 response to the report, Justice stated that while the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Policy, Management and Planning would continue in the role of rating official for the OSDBU director, it planned to elevate the review function for the OSDBU director's performance appraisal to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. According to the...
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| Department of Commerce | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | In response to our recommendation, Commerce made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess Commerce's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, Commerce notified the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, House Committee on Small Business in October 2011 that while the agency planned to maintain a dual reporting structure OSDBU, it planned to strengthen the relationship between the OSDBU Director and the Deputy Secretary by scheduling meetings every...
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| Department of the Interior | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | The Department of the Interior made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess Interior's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, in a January 2015 job announcement for the OSDBU director position, Interior stated that the OSDBU director was a direct report to the department's Deputy Secretary. Further, in November 2015, Interior provided an updated organizational chart showing that the OSDBU director reports to the Deputy Secretary. Similarly, the Departmental Manual...
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| Social Security Administration | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | In response to our recommendation, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure. Specifically, in August 2011, SSA notified us that effective July 31, 2011, the agency's OSDBU director had begun reporting to the Deputy Commissioner, the deputy agency head for SSA. The OSDBU director's position description was revised on August 10, 2011, to show that the director was being moved from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Budget, Finance and Management to the Office of the Commissioner. The revised position description also stated that the director reports to the Deputy Commissioner...
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| Department of State | Given the ongoing requirement in the Small Business Act that OSDBU directors report to agency heads or deputy heads, the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury and the Social Security Administration should take steps as necessary to comply with the requirement or report to Congress on why they have not complied. Such information could be included in SBA's annual scorecard report to Congress. Moreover, agencies that have not complied with the requirement could seek any statutory flexibilities or exceptions they believe may be appropriate. | State made changes to its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) reporting structure that were consistent with legislation in place at the time we conducted our review. (Congress has since enacted revised requirements; we did not assess State's compliance with these new requirements.) Specifically, in an October 2011 letter to the House Small Business Committee, State stated that it would designate the former OSDBU Operations Director as the OSDBU Director and that the Assistant Secretary for Administration would no longer function as the OSDBU director, as had been the case in the past. Further, the department stated that the new OSDBU director would be evaluated...
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