WOSB Accountability Act

This bill tightens how the federal government counts women‑owned small businesses (WOSBs) toward contracting goals. Only WOSBs that are officially certified by the Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal or state government, or an SBA‑approved national certifier will count toward those goals; self‑certified firms will not count once the change takes effect. During the transition, a self‑certified WOSB that applies for certification before the deadline will be treated as certified for goal‑counting until a decision is made on its application.

The SBA must write the rules within one year, and the main change starts only after two full federal fiscal years have passed following those rules. Until then, the temporary “treated as certified” status above applies to eligible applicants. The SBA must also brief Congress every quarter on how many firms are applying, how long reviews take, costs, outreach, and any needed resources to carry this out; the bill does not authorize new funding for these tasks.

Key points

• Who is affected: Women‑owned small businesses seeking federal contracts, and federal agencies measured on WOSB contracting goals.
• What changes: Only officially certified WOSBs will count toward agency contracting goals; certain self‑certified firms are temporarily treated as certified while their applications are pending; SBA must provide quarterly progress updates.
• When: SBA rules due within one year; the new counting rule begins after two full fiscal years following those rules; no new funds are authorized.