May 10, 2007
Contact: Robin Winchell (202) 225-4031
WASHINGTON,
DC - U.S. Rep. Charlie
Melancon today voted in favor of new legislation to protect small businesses by
providing them with improved access to federal contracts. H.R. 1873, the Small
Business Fairness in Contracting Act
was overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives by
a vote of 409-13 and will ensure small business owners have the
opportunity to compete for contracts from the federal government.
"Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy in
south Louisiana and across America," said
Rep. Melancon. "But for too long, too many small businesses have found it
difficult or impossible to compete for federal contracts. Small
businesses along the Gulf
Coast are still
struggling to recover from the 2005 hurricanes and the debacle that was the
SBA's response. This bill will help level the playing field for
hard-working small businesses and gives them a fair shake in competing for
federal contracts."
The Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act:
- Gives
small businesses a better opportunity at government contracts by
making it harder for government agencies to bundle contracts into billion
dollar super-contracts. This will put small businesses on a more
level playing field with large corporations.
- Makes
changes to ensure more federal contracts are available to small firms
by raising the federal small business government-wide contracting goal,
requiring the President to establish small business goals on an annual
basis, and increasing the goal for procurement for small disadvantaged and
women-owned businesses from 5 percent to 8 percent.
- Takes
steps to ensure that large corporations are not able to take advantage of
small business contracting programs, and requires the Small Business
Administration to reach out to small businesses regarding the opportunities
to compete for government contracts. Last year, the federal
government counted $12 billion as small business contracts that were
actually awarded to large businesses.
The United
States is home to more than 26 million small
businesses that represent more than 99.7 percent of
all employers. Small businesses create half of our gross domestic product, and
up to 80 percent of the new jobs nationwide. Additionally, studies have shown
that that supporting small businesses is good for the American economy.
For every $1 invested, small businesses will contribute $7 to the economy.
In recent years, the federal government has failed to ensure
small businesses have the opportunity to compete for government contracts. For
the past six years, the federal government has failed to meet its 23 percent
small business contracting goal. This failure costs small businesses
almost $10 billion in lost contracting opportunities. Additionally, the federal
government has incorrectly credited small businesses with receiving $12 billion
in contracts that were awarded to large businesses.
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