PETALUMA, Calif., July 24 CA-ASBL-Bush-MidClass
PETALUMA, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bush Administration is
gearing up to take one last shot at dismantling federal programs designed to
assist middle class firms. Earlier this year, the Small Business
Administration (SBA) announced that they intend to review size standards for
every industry classification within federal contracting programs. SBA
critics contend that the announcement is an indication that the SBA is
positioning itself to increase federal small business size standards to allow
much larger firms to participate in federal contracting programs designed for
small businesses.
Since President Bush took office, his administration has cut the SBA's
budget and staffing by more than 50 percent. In addition to harsh budget cuts
within the SBA, the Bush Administration has refused to implement the federal
law establishing a 5 percent set-aside program for women, closed the SBA
office to assist veteran-owned firms, and dramatically cut staffing at the SBA
for programs designed to assist minority owned firms.
In 2004, the SBA took public comment on a proposal to reduce the federal
definition of a small business from 500 employees to 100 employees or less.
The proposal received the highest response in SBA history, with 95 percent of
respondents in favor of dramatically reducing federal small business size
standards. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=89 )
Regarding the SBA's proposed audit of all federal small business size
standards, the ASBL predicts that Bush officials will completely ignore the
public comment, as they have in the past, and propose polices to dramatically
increase small business size standards. On July 17th, 2008, the Associated
Press (AP) reported that between 2004 and 2007, $1 in every $3 spent by the
Federal Government with small businesses went to firms within 50 miles of the
White House. Based on a series of federal investigations into the actual
recipients of federal small business contracts, a significant portion of the
firms coded as small businesses during those years were actually Fortune 1000
corporations or divisions of Fortune 1000 corporations.
The ASBL is concerned that the Bush Administration may attempt to close
the SBA completely and end all federal programs designed to assist small
businesses by combining it with the United States Department of Commerce.
"George Bush has been the most anti-small business president in my
lifetime and we are watching him very carefully. We anticipate that the Bush
Administration will make one more attempt to dismantle federal programs
designed to help America's 26 million small businesses," President of the ASBL
Lloyd Chapman said. "The Bush Administration has a documentable track record
of diverting hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business
contracts to some of the largest companies in the world and we are watching
them very closely."
SOURCE American Small Business League
