Senate Moves Forward With S. 2300 to Remove Large Firms From Federal Small Business Contracting Programs

PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwire - November 7, 2007) - The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:

The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship voted on and passed S. 2300, the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2007 through Committee this morning. The bill includes a provision for annual re-certification via the Central Contractor Registration database that will finally remove Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses from federal small business contracting programs. S. 2300 will now move on to the floor for full consideration.

In the past, annual re-certification has been endorsed by: the American Small Business League, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, SBA Inspector General Eric Thorson and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

In an effort to preclude the federal government from awarding billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to some of the largest companies in the United States and Europe, Senators Kerry (D - MA) and Snowe (R - ME) have mirrored their annual re-certification provision after policies that already exist in the CCR.

According to the official policies of the CCR, "You must renew your registration at least every 12 months from the date you previously registered." All firms registered on the CCR are required to renew their registration annually and have been required to do so for more than 20 years.

"It's a pretty straight forward process," CEO and founder of Open Integration Consulting, David Gonzales said. "In all, the re-certification process takes about 20 minutes."

In the past, annual re-certification and any other attempt to remove large businesses from small business contracting programs has been opposed by large businesses in the D.C. area that are currently receiving a lion's share of federal small business contracts. Lobbyists for big businesses have tried to claim annual re-certification is burdensome and time consuming. In reality, annual re-certification is a simple online process.

Beyond the simplicity of the actual process, S. 2300 states that the SBA Administrator, with assistance from the SBA Inspector General and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Administration, produce regulations to ensure that the annual re-certification process incur the least possible regulatory burden on small businesses.

The ASBL plans to continue their efforts to completely close any and all loopholes that have allowed large businesses to receive federal small business contracts by introducing legislation to preclude the federal government from reporting awards to large businesses as small businesses contracts and require the SBA to release the names of all firms that are coded as small businesses each year. The ASBL expects their bill to be introduced shortly.

"The ASBL and its members have lobbied long and hard for annual re-certification and I am really glad to see that it is on its way to becoming law," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

Contact Information: Contact: Christopher Gunn Communications Director American Small Business League (707) 789-9575