Recently in the Public Policy Category

Small Business Football

12:17 PM August 2, 2010

The back and forth debate between the small business jobs bill (H.R.5297) reminds me of classic Charlie Brown gag between him and Lucy. The story goes something like this; Lucy invites Charlie Brown to kick the football while she holds it. As soon as Charlie is about to kick it, Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie, knocking him straight to the ground.

This classic scenario between Charlie Brown and Lucy is exactly what is playing out in the Senate right now. Last week, Democrats and Republicans argued back and forth about how many amendments to offer.  Democrats threw in some of their other pet programs which had nothing to do with small business and Republicans tried to act like they were interested in moving the bill forward, but just as it looked like an agreement was in the works, they pulled the football out from under the Democrats. This has been going on for three weeks. The Senate has pulled the bill off the floor at least three times to consider other, more pressing legislation.  In the meanwhile, small businesses wait for tax incentives, increased lending and contracting reform--all of which they need immediately.

This week is the last attempt to pass the bill before Congress goes home for the rest of August and part of September.  Now is the time to show leadership and pass a much needed bill.  We need a touchdown.

One Word Can Change Everything

5:40 PM June 21, 2010

If you are a government contractor or want to be, you need to be aware of a problem with just one word that has thrown federal contracting into chaos. The difference in the small business law is over "shall" vs. "may."  That one word means that if you are a company located in a HUBZone, your program gets preference with respect to contracting.  And if you are a contractor in any of the socio-economic small business contracting programs, it spells "trouble" for you.  The issue is referred to as the parity in federal agencies, Capitol Hill and the White House.  Shaking your head?  Here's the background.

What is "parity" with respect to federal procurement?

Parity is the concept that all of the small business programs administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) are equal to one another, with no one program will having precedence over the other. This policy, which was intended by original drafters of the law, has been upset by a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision. This decision found that the HUBZone program has precedence over all of the small business programs, due to the way the law was originally drafted.  WIPP, along with the SBA and the Obama Administration, and many other organizations, support changing the law to fix this problem.

What is the impact to you?

-          HUBZone contractors will have preference over other small business contracts.

-          The Court's reading of the Act could re-direct to HUBZone firms tens of billions in federal procurement dollars.

-          This could cause a flood of protests in any non-HUBZone procurement, paralyzing the procurement process.  

-          Render the new women's procurement program expected to be finalized this year dead on arrival.


What Can You Do To Help?

Now more than ever, legislation action is needed to restore parity to the SBA small business programs. Call or write to your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support passage of S.3190 and H.R. 3729. You can write directly to your Congressional Delegate by clicking here. You can find their phone numbers on www.senate.gov; or www.house.gov.  Click on the Senator/Representative you are trying to reach.

Legislation affecting the Small Business Administration's (SBA) small business programs is pending in the House and Senate, and WIPP needs your help getting these bills passed! One bill addresses the issue of parity among the small business programs. The other bill makes significant changes to the proposed Women's Procurement Program.


A Government Accountability Office (GAO) court decision overturned an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directive, which placed the SBA's small business programs in parity with one another. Prior to this decision, contracting officers were free to choose among the small business programs when issuing procurements, with preference given to programs where the small business goal has not yet been met. S.3190 and H.R.3729 seek to restore the OMB directive. 

S.3399 addresses a number of concerns that WIPP voiced to the SBA during the comment period for the women's procurement program, including:

Removing the contracting dollar limits of $5 million for manufacturing contracts, and $3 million for other goods and service contracts
-  Allowing for sole-source awards
-  Conducting data reviews every five (5) years which determine which North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes will be eligible

These are two important pieces of legislation that if passed, will benefit small businesses. Contact your local representatives expressing your support!

Click here to read WIPP's letters of support. 


On the heels of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) proposed women's procurement program, I am thrilled to see that legislation introduced by Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will strengthen the proposed program. The bill ensures that critical components included in other socioeconomic programs administered by the SBA will part of the women's procurement program. 


The Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act of 2010 (S.3399) has a number of provisions that are designed to help women contractors, including:
- removing the dollar limits of $5 million for manufacturing contracts, and $3 million for other goods and service   contracts
- allow for sole-sourcing
- data reviews to determine program eligibility every five (5) years

WIPP has issued a statement applauding the efforts of Senator Snowe and Senator Gillibrand. To read this, please click here.

WIPP has also sent letters of support to Senator Snowe and Senator Gillbrand. To read those letters, please click here

We have never had information before that relected the overall economic impact of women-owned firms.  Today we have it and it reveals the magnitude of importance that small business plays in the overall economy.

Women-owned firms produce employment for more than 23 million people in the United states, or 16% of our 2008 workforce.*.   This means that approximately 8% of the total labor force work directly for a woman-owned firm.  This is astonishing news.

But what really is remarkable, is that that 80% of the women businesses are NOT employer firms.

What would this mean to our national economic recovery if we increased the number of "employer" firms to 25%? To 30%?  How many more people would join the ranks of the employed?   

It is time to start focusing on strategies and policies to make this happen.  WIPP is asking these questions and addressing these issues directly.

 

 

 

*US Department of Labor, November 2008 national employment figures.

 

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