Parity Restored, Thanks to the Small Business Jobs Bill!
11:24 AM September 17, 2010
One major component of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5297) is the restoration of parity to the SBA's small business contracting programs. Parity has been a top priority for WIPP, and has been a huge topic among contractors who participate in the contracting programs. For background on parity, please see my prior blog post.
Passage of this legislation means that the small business contracting programs - HUBZone, SDVOSB, 8(a), and the soon-to-be enacted women's procurement program will stand on equal footing. GAO court decisions have ruled that without this change, HUBZone has preference over the other small business contracting programs. The statute that authorized the HUBZone program will be changed from "shall" to "may", mirroring the other programs. The real world implication is that contracting officers are free to choose which program they would like to utilize. Without passage of this law, the court's interpretation would have remained, and HUBZone would continue to have priority over the other programs.
This victory is also important in another way - this was the catalyst to ensuring a successful women's procurement program. Given that the recent SBA Scorecard reports that the federal government has failed again to meet its women-owned goal, this shows the immediate need for a women's procurement program.
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