Small firms would get a bigger slice of federal contracts under a bill now before the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, on Wednesday introduced the Small Business Fairness In Contracting Act (HR 1873), which would increase the mandated percentage of work awarded to small firms from 23 percent to 30 percent and require overseas contracts to meet the same requirement. If passed, the bill would also enable the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to act as a third party to review small business procurement actions.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has endured criticism in the past for failing to ensure federal agencies award small companies 23 percent of their business as required. SBA has proposed a series of reforms this year to tackle the problem, such as requiring companies to recertify their small-business status every five years.
The House Small Business Committee held a hearing Thursday to discuss the proposed legislation and issues. SBA spokesman Mike Stamler declined to comment on the legislation, saying the agency has not yet seen a final copy. During his testimony Thursday, SBA associate administrator Paul Hsu stressed the agency’s commitment to improving transparency and instituting reforms, and said $500,00 was devoted in the agency’s 2008 budget request to further tackling the issues.
The federal process of bundling a number of different contracts together hurts small businesses. It makes it harder for small businesses to compete for them, Emily Murphy, a government contracts attorney with D.C.-based firm Miller & Chevalier, said in her testimony. The bill would clarify the definition of contract bundling to allow more large contracts to be reviewed for their impact on small businesses.
