Missed Goals Mean Mandatory Training: New Bill Forces Agencies to Boost Contracts for Service-Disabled Veteran Businesses

The “Service-Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act” is a clear, no-nonsense effort to hold federal agencies accountable for hitting their veteran contracting goals. If an agency doesn’t award enough contracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans—a goal already set in existing law—this bill mandates immediate intervention.

The Training Hammer Drops

The core of this legislation is simple: underperformance triggers mandatory correction. If a federal agency misses its specific annual contracting goal for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), the Small Business Administrator (SBA), working with the Office of Veterans Business Development, must step in. They are required to provide specialized training to the relevant employees at that agency. Think of it as a mandatory continuing education course for federal procurement officers who aren't getting the job done. The goal is to teach them exactly how to increase the number of contracts they give to these veteran-owned firms (SEC. 2).

Best Practices and Agency Report Cards

Beyond the required training, the bill forces the SBA to get its act together quickly. Within 180 days of the law passing, the Administrator must develop and release official guidance and best practices for all federal agencies on how to better utilize SDVOSBs in their contracting process (SEC. 2). This means that every agency that is supposed to be meeting this goal will have a new playbook to follow.

For the average taxpayer and the veterans running these businesses, the most important part might be the transparency requirement. Starting one year after enactment, the SBA must send an annual report to Congress. This report will essentially be a public report card, listing every single federal agency that missed its SDVOSB contract goal that year, detailing how many training sessions were held, and summarizing the content of that training (SEC. 2). This puts the pressure on by publicly naming the agencies that are falling short.

Real-World Impact: Who Feels It?

For service-disabled veterans running small businesses—say, a veteran who started an IT consulting firm or a construction company—this bill is designed to open up the federal marketplace. It’s not just setting a goal; it’s building a mechanism to force compliance, which should translate into more bids and more contract awards for them. If the law works as intended, it means more reliable revenue streams and growth opportunities for businesses owned by those who served.

On the flip side, the procurement employees and leadership at federal agencies that consistently miss their goals are the ones bearing the cost of this new accountability. They will face mandatory training, increased oversight, and the public scrutiny that comes with being listed in the annual congressional report. It shifts the focus from merely having a goal on paper to actively ensuring the goal is met, putting the onus squarely on the agencies to improve their performance.