A. The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs may grant a preference, for purposes of the expenditure of funds for tangible or intangible personal property or services to be acquired by the agency, to an honorably discharged veteran or to a lawfully recognized business entity having a majority ownership of fifty-one percent (51%) or more of the business that is held by an honorably discharged veteran at the time the contract is awarded.

B. No individual veteran or veteran-owned business entity, as defined in subsection C of this section, shall be eligible for consideration as a veteran vendor pursuant to this section unless the individual veteran or veteran-owned business entity has registered with the federal System for Award Management (SAM.gov) in the same manner as required to do business with the federal government or has met alternative requirements for qualification or substantiation as established by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

C. As used in this section, the term “veteran” shall be defined in accordance with Section 2 of Title 72 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

D. The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs may promulgate rules for implementing the provisions of this section.