What Will Happen to the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program?

Last month, Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Defense Small Business Advancement Act of 2019 (S.1320), intended to reauthorize and—according to articles and press releases—improve the DoD’s mentor-protégé program.  Specifically, the bill permanently authorizes the mentor-protégé program, requires the DoD’s Office of Small Business Programs to establish performance goals and conduct periodic reviews of approved mentor-protégé agreements, and strikes all references to “pilot program.”  To date, the bill was referred to, and remains in, the Senate Committee on Armed Services.