Plain Language Act Mandates Clearer Federal Contract Notices for Small Businesses—But Doesn't Fund It

The newly proposed Plain Language in Contracting Act aims to fix a common headache for small business owners: wading through confusing, jargon-filled federal contract notices. Essentially, this bill (SEC. 2) mandates that when a federal agency posts a notice about a contract opportunity for small businesses on the main government website, that notice must be written clearly, concisely, and be well-organized. The goal is simple: make it easier for the people who actually run small businesses—the plumbers, the IT specialists, the manufacturers—to understand exactly what the government is asking for without needing a lawyer or a full-time compliance officer to translate.

Cutting Through the Red Tape Jargon

For anyone who has tried to find government work, you know how opaque the process can be. This Act requires agencies to use plain language and also insists that notices include key words in their descriptions. Think of it like this: if you’re a small construction firm looking for roofing jobs, the bill wants to make sure that searching “roofing” on the government site actually brings up the relevant opportunities, rather than just burying them under vague technical terms. This is a direct attempt to increase accessibility and make sure small businesses can actually find the work they are qualified for, improving their odds of competing against much larger firms.

The SBA Gets 90 Days to Set the Rules

To make this happen, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) has a 90-day deadline after the bill passes to create the official rules (SEC. 2) that agencies must follow. This means the SBA will define what “clear, short, and well-organized” actually looks like in practice. This is a big deal because the quality of the new notices will hinge entirely on how strict and specific the SBA decides to be. They have the power to set the new standard for government communication, which is a rare chance to truly improve how the government interacts with its smallest partners.

The Catch: An Unfunded Mandate

While the goal of clarity is excellent, there’s a significant practical challenge baked into the final section of the bill. Section 3 explicitly states that no additional funds are authorized for this Act. Translation: Federal agencies are now required to dedicate staff time and resources to overhaul their entire contracting notice system, rewrite procedures, and comply with the new SBA rules—all without a single extra dollar allocated to cover the cost. This creates an unfunded mandate. Agencies already dealing with tight budgets will have to pull money from existing programs or operational budgets to comply, potentially slowing down implementation or leading to minimal, box-checking changes rather than the robust improvements small businesses actually need. It’s a classic case of the government saying, “Do this great thing,” followed immediately by, “But you have to pay for it yourself.”