Bailout Bill Needs New Provisions to Redirect Billions To Middle Class Firms
Petaluma, Calif. - In March of 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General issued Report 5-15, which stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards."
Since the purpose of the "bailout bill" is to bolster our nation's economy, wouldn't it make sense to include a simple and easy provision that would solve a major and longstanding problem within the federal contracting system and redirect up to $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts back into the hands of legitimate and hardworking middle class firms?
The Small Business Act defines a small business as a firm that is "independently owned." Legally, the term independently owned is defined as a firm that is not publicly owned or traded. The addition of a single sentence to the bailout bill could redirect billions of dollars in federal small business contracts back to the very middle class firms the bill is supposed to ultimately rescue. This single sentence would also finally bring an end to years of abuses in federal small business contracting programs.
The sentence should read, "As of January 1st, 2009, the federal government will no longer report awards to publicly traded firms as small business awards."
The addition of this sentence would be a simple and easy solution to the diversion of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to large corporations, and it would provide small businesses and the middle class economy with a much-needed boost.
Since 2003, 15 federal investigations have all found that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have actually gone to hundreds of the largest corporations in the United States and Europe. In fact, some of the firms federal investigators identified as recipients of federal small business contracts were: Rolls-Royce, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Xerox, Dell, John Deere, Microsoft, Titan Industries, British Aerospace Engineering (BAE) and Dutch conglomerate Buhrmann NV.
It is time for this problem to be solved and through the bailout bill a solution could be easily achieved. If government investigators are right, up to $100 billion a year is being pulled out of the middle class economy. It's time for Senator Barack Obama (D - IL), Senator John McCain (R - AZ) and members of Congress to give America's 27 million small businesses more than just lip service.
If Congress really wants to stabilize and bolster our nation's failing economy, let's put $100 billion a year in federal small business contracts back in the hands of the middle class firms where most American's work.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Lloyd Chapman: Bailout Bill Doesn't Need to Waive Federal Acquisition Law
Bailout Bill Could Create Billions in Abuses by Waving Federal Contracting Laws
Petaluma, Calif. - The following is a statement by American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman:
In its present form, the bailout bill will give Bush Administration officials broad power to waive any provision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) they choose for an indefinite period of time.
Section 107 of the bill could be a recipe for disaster at a time when the national economy has plummeted as the direct result of a blatant lack of proper government oversight. It would be foolhardy and irresponsible for Congress to grant the very individuals that are directly responsible for one of the worst economic disasters in United States history even more power to ignore federal procurement law for as long as they deem necessary.
The multitude of problems that could arise by allowing government officials to ignore even the most foundational principals of the FAR could be catastrophic. Staggering abuses in federal contracting are a common occurrence. Many of the nation's largest defense contractors are regularly found to be defrauding the federal government out of hundreds of millions and even billions in taxpayer dollars.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs before he came to Washington and he will no doubt be back on Wall Street in an equally if not more powerful position in 90 days. Of all the Bush Administration officials that deserve their fair share of responsibility for our nation's financial disaster, Treasury Secretary Paulson's name should be close to the top of the list.
Treasury Secretary Paulson should not be trusted to waive provisions of the FAR, which could be beneficial to his past and future employers on Wall Street and detrimental to the primary goal of the bailout bill, which is to bolster the national economy. More fraud, abuse and loopholes for Wall Street and government officials will not make our nation's financial institutions more sound, create more jobs or help middle class Americans pay their bills.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. - The following is a statement by American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman:
In its present form, the bailout bill will give Bush Administration officials broad power to waive any provision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) they choose for an indefinite period of time.
Section 107 of the bill could be a recipe for disaster at a time when the national economy has plummeted as the direct result of a blatant lack of proper government oversight. It would be foolhardy and irresponsible for Congress to grant the very individuals that are directly responsible for one of the worst economic disasters in United States history even more power to ignore federal procurement law for as long as they deem necessary.
The multitude of problems that could arise by allowing government officials to ignore even the most foundational principals of the FAR could be catastrophic. Staggering abuses in federal contracting are a common occurrence. Many of the nation's largest defense contractors are regularly found to be defrauding the federal government out of hundreds of millions and even billions in taxpayer dollars.
Waiving provisions of the FAR could result in billions of dollars in fraud and abuse at multiple levels of government. Government officials cannot be trusted with the power to waive any federal procurement law they deem unnecessary.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs before he came to Washington and he will no doubt be back on Wall Street in an equally if not more powerful position in 90 days. Of all the Bush Administration officials that deserve their fair share of responsibility for our nation's financial disaster, Treasury Secretary Paulson's name should be close to the top of the list.
Treasury Secretary Paulson should not be trusted to waive provisions of the FAR, which could be beneficial to his past and future employers on Wall Street and detrimental to the primary goal of the bailout bill, which is to bolster the national economy. More fraud, abuse and loopholes for Wall Street and government officials will not make our nation's financial institutions more sound, create more jobs or help middle class Americans pay their bills.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Bailout Plan May Include Anti-Small Business Language
The following was release was distributed by the American Small Business League On October 1, 2008.
The Bush “bailout bill” includes some suspicious language that has small business advocates concerned. The Bush Administration has been persistent in its efforts to dismantle federal small business contracting programs and to divert those funds to big businesses. During his tenure, President Bush has cut the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) budget in half, and cut funding and oversight for every program assisting small businesses, including woman, minority and veteran-owned firms. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1033)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) contends that language within the bailout bill seems out of place, extremely vague and overly broad. As a result, the legislation would give the Secretary of the Treasury a blank check to waive any section of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) he deems appropriate.
Section 107 of H.R. 3997, which addresses contracting procedures states, “For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary may waive specific provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation upon a determination that urgent and compelling circumstances make compliance with such provisions contrary to the public interest.” The House of Representatives defeated H.R. 3997 Monday with a 228-205 vote. However, the ASBL is concerned that as Congress moves to address the current financial crisis, a second incarnation of H.R. 3997 may be adopted with similar language.
During the last thirty days alone, Bush officials at the SBA have suspended taking applications for the Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) contracting program, refused to release the government’s small business contracting statistics for fiscal year 2007, which ended a full year ago and appealed a Federal District Court ruling requiring them to release the names of firms that received federal small business contracts during FY 2005 and 2006. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20080925courtordermod.pdf)
If the Bush bailout bill were to become law with the language of Section 107 in place, Bush officials would have the legal power to ignore the sections of the FAR that stipulate federal contracting opportunities for small businesses, woman-owned firms, minority-owned firms and veteran-owned firms. Federal agencies and prime contractors could be allowed to completely ignore the federal government’s small business contracting goals. Section 107 does not contain any stipulation on how long the “wavier of specific provisions” could last. The federal government’s ability to exclude small businesses could last years, and middle-class firms could continue to lose billions of dollars in government contracts and subcontracts.
The ASBL predicted the Bush Administration would try to intensify its efforts to dismantle and weaken federal small business contracting programs as the administration entered its final months. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1068)
To date, 15 federal investigations have all found that during the Bush Administration, hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to some of the largest corporations in the World. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) In addition, CBS, ABC and CNN have all done investigative stories on the issue. (http://www.asbl.com/media2.php)
“Not only does this bill not contain any provisions that specifically help small business, it has provisions that could actually harm middle class firms. The language in Section 107 of the bill is totally inconsistent with the stated objectives of this legislation,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “It is clearly not necessary to suspend federal acquisition law to bail out Wall Street and the financial industry. I am very concerned the Bush Administration included that language to give them the authority to further dismantle federal programs designed to assist small businesses. We got into this situation because of a lack of proper regulation and now the same people that are responsible for these staggering economic problems want to be able to ignore any sections of federal contracting law they deem necessary. George Bush has proven time-after-time that he cannot be trusted especially when it comes to small business issues.”
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
The Bush “bailout bill” includes some suspicious language that has small business advocates concerned. The Bush Administration has been persistent in its efforts to dismantle federal small business contracting programs and to divert those funds to big businesses. During his tenure, President Bush has cut the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) budget in half, and cut funding and oversight for every program assisting small businesses, including woman, minority and veteran-owned firms. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1033)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) contends that language within the bailout bill seems out of place, extremely vague and overly broad. As a result, the legislation would give the Secretary of the Treasury a blank check to waive any section of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) he deems appropriate.
Section 107 of H.R. 3997, which addresses contracting procedures states, “For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary may waive specific provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation upon a determination that urgent and compelling circumstances make compliance with such provisions contrary to the public interest.” The House of Representatives defeated H.R. 3997 Monday with a 228-205 vote. However, the ASBL is concerned that as Congress moves to address the current financial crisis, a second incarnation of H.R. 3997 may be adopted with similar language.
During the last thirty days alone, Bush officials at the SBA have suspended taking applications for the Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) contracting program, refused to release the government’s small business contracting statistics for fiscal year 2007, which ended a full year ago and appealed a Federal District Court ruling requiring them to release the names of firms that received federal small business contracts during FY 2005 and 2006. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/20080925courtordermod.pdf)
If the Bush bailout bill were to become law with the language of Section 107 in place, Bush officials would have the legal power to ignore the sections of the FAR that stipulate federal contracting opportunities for small businesses, woman-owned firms, minority-owned firms and veteran-owned firms. Federal agencies and prime contractors could be allowed to completely ignore the federal government’s small business contracting goals. Section 107 does not contain any stipulation on how long the “wavier of specific provisions” could last. The federal government’s ability to exclude small businesses could last years, and middle-class firms could continue to lose billions of dollars in government contracts and subcontracts.
The ASBL predicted the Bush Administration would try to intensify its efforts to dismantle and weaken federal small business contracting programs as the administration entered its final months. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1068)
To date, 15 federal investigations have all found that during the Bush Administration, hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to some of the largest corporations in the World. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html) In addition, CBS, ABC and CNN have all done investigative stories on the issue. (http://www.asbl.com/media2.php)
“Not only does this bill not contain any provisions that specifically help small business, it has provisions that could actually harm middle class firms. The language in Section 107 of the bill is totally inconsistent with the stated objectives of this legislation,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “It is clearly not necessary to suspend federal acquisition law to bail out Wall Street and the financial industry. I am very concerned the Bush Administration included that language to give them the authority to further dismantle federal programs designed to assist small businesses. We got into this situation because of a lack of proper regulation and now the same people that are responsible for these staggering economic problems want to be able to ignore any sections of federal contracting law they deem necessary. George Bush has proven time-after-time that he cannot be trusted especially when it comes to small business issues.”
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Thursday, September 25, 2008
CVBT: "SBA appeals ruling to release contracting data"
The following story ran in the Central Valley Business Times (CVBT) this morning regarding the Small Business Administration's (SBA) decision to appeal its recent court loss to the American Small Business League (ASBL) to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The ASBL was shocked by the SBA's decision to move towards decreasing transparency in federal small business contracting programs.
Regarding the SBA's move, attorney for ASBL Robert Belshaw said. "The Small Business Administration's willingness to take this matter to the 9th Circuit Court should be an indication to the media, public and Congress that transparency is not a priority for the SBA at this time. We can see no legal theory which would support an appeal of the district court's decision."
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SBA appeals ruling to release contracting data
The U.S. Small Business Administration has decided to appeal a U.S. District Court ruling against them, directing the agency to release the specific names of all recipients of federal small business contracts during federal fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League of Petaluma under the Freedom of Information Act after the SBA refused to comply with the ASBL's request.
The ASBL requested the data to prove that during the Bush Administration most small business contracts were actually awarded to Fortune 500 firms.
The case now goes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Court documents indicating the SBA's justification for appealing the case have not been released
But the founder of ASBL thinks he knows why.
"It's obvious the Bush Administration has something to hide. Why else would they be willing to go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over simple information that should be readily available to every citizen?” says ASBL President Lloyd Chapman.
“Since 2002, there have been 15 federal investigations that have found the Bush Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to large corporations. That is the real reason the SBA is withholding this data, particularly this close to an election," Mr. Chapman says.
Please click here to view the source for the story: http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9915
Regarding the SBA's move, attorney for ASBL Robert Belshaw said. "The Small Business Administration's willingness to take this matter to the 9th Circuit Court should be an indication to the media, public and Congress that transparency is not a priority for the SBA at this time. We can see no legal theory which would support an appeal of the district court's decision."
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SBA appeals ruling to release contracting data
The U.S. Small Business Administration has decided to appeal a U.S. District Court ruling against them, directing the agency to release the specific names of all recipients of federal small business contracts during federal fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League of Petaluma under the Freedom of Information Act after the SBA refused to comply with the ASBL's request.
The ASBL requested the data to prove that during the Bush Administration most small business contracts were actually awarded to Fortune 500 firms.
The case now goes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Court documents indicating the SBA's justification for appealing the case have not been released
But the founder of ASBL thinks he knows why.
"It's obvious the Bush Administration has something to hide. Why else would they be willing to go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over simple information that should be readily available to every citizen?” says ASBL President Lloyd Chapman.
“Since 2002, there have been 15 federal investigations that have found the Bush Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to large corporations. That is the real reason the SBA is withholding this data, particularly this close to an election," Mr. Chapman says.
Please click here to view the source for the story: http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9915
Thursday, September 18, 2008
New SBA Head Still Refusing to Release Small Business Contracting Statistics
Interest In SBA Data Mounts As Agency Stalls the Release of Inflated Small Business Statistics
Petaluma, Calif. - Eleven and a half months after the end of the federal government's fiscal year (FY) 2007, new Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Santanu "Sandy" Baruah has still not released the Bush Administration's small business contracting statistics for last year.
The federal government's FY 2007 ended on September 30th of last year. 2008 marks the first time in history that the SBA has not released its annual small business contracting statistics by the end of August.
SBA critics question why the SBA routinely takes so long to release the statistics, when it is widely known that the data is compiled on a real time basis. The information should have been available as soon as October 1, 2007.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes Bush officials at the SBA may have backed themselves into a corner when during an August 28, 2008 legal preceding, representatives from the SBA told United States District Court Judge Marilyn H. Patel that they did not have any small business contracting data. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/motiontodismiss.pdf)
Another reason the Bush Administration may be anxious about release of the data is every year since 2003, a firestorm of controversy erupts as soon as the small business contracting data is released. In that time, 15 federal investigations have found that the Bush Administration consistently diverts billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.
In past years, the story on the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants has erupted within hours of the release of the fabricated data. CBS, ABC, CNN and virtually every major newspaper in the country have covered the story.
The Bush Administration would obviously like to avoid another controversy in such close proximity to the elections.
Another possibility is that the SBA may have spent the last eleven and a half months scrubbing the 2007 data of any obvious large businesses names. They would then significantly inflate the volume of contract dollars allotted to legitimate small businesses to make up the difference.
If and when the Bush Administration does release its small business contracting statistics for 2007, billions of dollars in contracts to many of the largest firms in the United States and even Europe will most likely be included. This year marks the seventh consecutive year that large companies have been included in the government's small business contracting statistics.
In the past, Bush officials have reported contracts to firms such as Bechtel, John Deere, Dell, Xerox, Rolls Royce, Battelle, Home Depot, Boeing, Raytheon, Halliburton, General Dynamics, Thales (French), Buhrmann NV (Dutch) and British Aerospace and Engineering (BAE) as small business contracts.
The SBA is facing mounting pressure to release the 2007 small business contracting statistics. Every day that they stall the release of the data creates more and more interest in their justifications for withholding the information. If the SBA does release the data, they could find themselves in trouble with the federal courts in San Francisco as a result of SBA officials stating that they did not have the data detailing the recipients of federal small business contracts.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. - Eleven and a half months after the end of the federal government's fiscal year (FY) 2007, new Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Santanu "Sandy" Baruah has still not released the Bush Administration's small business contracting statistics for last year.
The federal government's FY 2007 ended on September 30th of last year. 2008 marks the first time in history that the SBA has not released its annual small business contracting statistics by the end of August.
SBA critics question why the SBA routinely takes so long to release the statistics, when it is widely known that the data is compiled on a real time basis. The information should have been available as soon as October 1, 2007.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes Bush officials at the SBA may have backed themselves into a corner when during an August 28, 2008 legal preceding, representatives from the SBA told United States District Court Judge Marilyn H. Patel that they did not have any small business contracting data. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/motiontodismiss.pdf)
Another reason the Bush Administration may be anxious about release of the data is every year since 2003, a firestorm of controversy erupts as soon as the small business contracting data is released. In that time, 15 federal investigations have found that the Bush Administration consistently diverts billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.
In past years, the story on the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants has erupted within hours of the release of the fabricated data. CBS, ABC, CNN and virtually every major newspaper in the country have covered the story.
The Bush Administration would obviously like to avoid another controversy in such close proximity to the elections.
Another possibility is that the SBA may have spent the last eleven and a half months scrubbing the 2007 data of any obvious large businesses names. They would then significantly inflate the volume of contract dollars allotted to legitimate small businesses to make up the difference.
If and when the Bush Administration does release its small business contracting statistics for 2007, billions of dollars in contracts to many of the largest firms in the United States and even Europe will most likely be included. This year marks the seventh consecutive year that large companies have been included in the government's small business contracting statistics.
In the past, Bush officials have reported contracts to firms such as Bechtel, John Deere, Dell, Xerox, Rolls Royce, Battelle, Home Depot, Boeing, Raytheon, Halliburton, General Dynamics, Thales (French), Buhrmann NV (Dutch) and British Aerospace and Engineering (BAE) as small business contracts.
The SBA is facing mounting pressure to release the 2007 small business contracting statistics. Every day that they stall the release of the data creates more and more interest in their justifications for withholding the information. If the SBA does release the data, they could find themselves in trouble with the federal courts in San Francisco as a result of SBA officials stating that they did not have the data detailing the recipients of federal small business contracts.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Latest GSA Small Business Contracting Numbers Include Billions to Fortune 500 Corporations
GSA Accused of Fabricating Small Business Contracting Statistics by Including Billions to Fortune 500 Firms
Petaluma, Calif. – Yesterday, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a press release stating that the agency had exceeded all of its small business contracting goals, with the exception of the congressionally mandated 3 percent goal for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.
The GSA failed to mention in its press release on its increased small business contracting numbers, that most of the money actually ended up in the hands of Fortune 1000 corporations, publicly traded firms and even a number of large businesses overseas. This represents the seventh consecutive year that the Bush Administration has released small business contracting statistics that includes billions of dollars in contracts to some of the largest companies in the U.S. and Europe.
There have now been 15 federal investigations during the Bush Administration, that have all found large businesses as the actual recipients of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." (http://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
On July 1, 2008, the Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General released a report, which stated that the DOI misstated the achievement of its small business goals by including Fortune 500 corporations. According to the report, DOI included dozens of corporate giants such as Dell, GTSI, Home Depot, John Deere, McGraw-Hill, Ricoh, Sherwin Williams, Starwood Hotels, Waste Management Incorporated, Weyerhaeuser, World Wide Technology, and Xerox in its small business contracting statistics. (http://www.doioig.gov/upload/2008-G-0024.pdf)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) intends to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the GSA for the specific names of all of the firms the GSA used to hit and exceed its congressionally mandated small business contracting goals. The ASBL intends to request the information as a means of proving that the Bush Administration once again has fabricated its small business contracting numbers for fiscal year 2007.
The ASBL projects that the Bush Administration diverts up to $100 billion a year in small business contracts to large corporations.
"The Bush Administration has lost all credibility with the public and the media, especially when it comes to small business contracting. There have been 15 federal investigations, which have all found that hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts intended for small businesses actually went to Fortune 500 corporations," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "The GSA's small business statistics are fabricated and have no validity. I would love to have someone from the press contact GSA's Acting Administrator Jim Williams and ask one question, 'are contracts to any Fortune 1000 corporations included in your small business contracting numbers, yes or no?' "
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. – Yesterday, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a press release stating that the agency had exceeded all of its small business contracting goals, with the exception of the congressionally mandated 3 percent goal for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.
The GSA failed to mention in its press release on its increased small business contracting numbers, that most of the money actually ended up in the hands of Fortune 1000 corporations, publicly traded firms and even a number of large businesses overseas. This represents the seventh consecutive year that the Bush Administration has released small business contracting statistics that includes billions of dollars in contracts to some of the largest companies in the U.S. and Europe.
There have now been 15 federal investigations during the Bush Administration, that have all found large businesses as the actual recipients of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." (http://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
On July 1, 2008, the Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General released a report, which stated that the DOI misstated the achievement of its small business goals by including Fortune 500 corporations. According to the report, DOI included dozens of corporate giants such as Dell, GTSI, Home Depot, John Deere, McGraw-Hill, Ricoh, Sherwin Williams, Starwood Hotels, Waste Management Incorporated, Weyerhaeuser, World Wide Technology, and Xerox in its small business contracting statistics. (http://www.doioig.gov/upload/2008-G-0024.pdf)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) intends to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the GSA for the specific names of all of the firms the GSA used to hit and exceed its congressionally mandated small business contracting goals. The ASBL intends to request the information as a means of proving that the Bush Administration once again has fabricated its small business contracting numbers for fiscal year 2007.
The ASBL projects that the Bush Administration diverts up to $100 billion a year in small business contracts to large corporations.
"The Bush Administration has lost all credibility with the public and the media, especially when it comes to small business contracting. There have been 15 federal investigations, which have all found that hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts intended for small businesses actually went to Fortune 500 corporations," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "The GSA's small business statistics are fabricated and have no validity. I would love to have someone from the press contact GSA's Acting Administrator Jim Williams and ask one question, 'are contracts to any Fortune 1000 corporations included in your small business contracting numbers, yes or no?' "
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hurricane Relief Will be Hampered By SBA Budget Cuts
The following press release was distributed by the American Small Business League today...
Petaluma, Calif. - Relief to small businesses and homeowners recovering from this season's round of hurricanes will be dramatically hampered by a series of severe Bush Administration budget cuts at the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA's ability to respond to victims of Hurricane Katrina was severely handicapped by dramatic budget and staffing cuts at the agency prior to the storm.
The SBA was so overwhelmed during relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, that the agency was forced to hire thousands of temporary workers to do the work of the multitude of experienced SBA staff that had been laid off by the Bush Administration. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued on July 25, 2007 stated, "SBA also faced challenges training and supervising the thousands of mostly temporary employees the agency hired to process loan applications and obtaining suitable office space for its expanded workforce. As of late May 2006, SBA processed disaster loan applications, on average, in about 74 days compared with its goal of within 21 days." (GAO-07-1124T, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071124t.pdf)
The SBA's lack of experienced staff was seen as a contributing factor in the hundreds of cases of fraud and abuse that were uncovered in the aftermath of relief efforts.
On March 28, 2008, the SBA Office of Inspector General released Report 8-11 stating, "Due to the unprecedented number of loans, by the fall of 2006 SBA had accumulated a backlog of more than 90,000 undisbursed loans. To expedite disbursement, SBA launched a 90-in-45 Campaign to resolve the backlog within 45 days. Several SBA employees involved in this initiative complained that, to meet performance goals, SBA disbursed funds against borrowers' wishes, circumvented loan-processing requirements, unnecessarily cancelled approved loans and inappropriately withdrew loan applications." (SBA OIG Report 08-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/8-11.pdf)
Despite the SBA's efforts to mask its inability to adequately respond to the volume of disaster loan applications following Hurricane Katrina, the agency still managed to accumulate a massive backlog of loan applications.
According to Report 7-20 released by the SBA OIG, following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the SBA approved 158,000 disaster loans totaling $10.6 billion. The report stated that as of September 30, 2006, the SBA had only dispersed $3.1 billion or 30 percent of the loans. Furthermore, Report 8-11 states that as of January 25, 2008, the SBA had only dispersed $6.3 billion after approving more than 160,000 disaster loans. (SBA OIG Report 07-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/7-20.pdf)
Since taking office, President Bush has cut the SBA's budget and staffing more than any other federal agency. Today, the agency's budget is less than half of what it was when President Bush took office.
Depending on the overall magnitude of the damage caused by Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and the remainder of the seasons storms, the SBA may have to once again resort to hiring inexperienced temporary workers as a means of handling the workload the agencies larger and more experienced staff was able to provide in the past.
Relief to victims of this season's hurricanes could be even worse than it was after Katrina, because the SBA's budget and staffing have been cut further in the years following Katrina.
To date, neither Senator Barack Obama (D - IL), nor Senator John McCain (R - AZ) have posed plans to restore the SBA's Budget if elected president.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. - Relief to small businesses and homeowners recovering from this season's round of hurricanes will be dramatically hampered by a series of severe Bush Administration budget cuts at the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA's ability to respond to victims of Hurricane Katrina was severely handicapped by dramatic budget and staffing cuts at the agency prior to the storm.
The SBA was so overwhelmed during relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, that the agency was forced to hire thousands of temporary workers to do the work of the multitude of experienced SBA staff that had been laid off by the Bush Administration. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued on July 25, 2007 stated, "SBA also faced challenges training and supervising the thousands of mostly temporary employees the agency hired to process loan applications and obtaining suitable office space for its expanded workforce. As of late May 2006, SBA processed disaster loan applications, on average, in about 74 days compared with its goal of within 21 days." (GAO-07-1124T, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071124t.pdf)
The SBA's lack of experienced staff was seen as a contributing factor in the hundreds of cases of fraud and abuse that were uncovered in the aftermath of relief efforts.
On March 28, 2008, the SBA Office of Inspector General released Report 8-11 stating, "Due to the unprecedented number of loans, by the fall of 2006 SBA had accumulated a backlog of more than 90,000 undisbursed loans. To expedite disbursement, SBA launched a 90-in-45 Campaign to resolve the backlog within 45 days. Several SBA employees involved in this initiative complained that, to meet performance goals, SBA disbursed funds against borrowers' wishes, circumvented loan-processing requirements, unnecessarily cancelled approved loans and inappropriately withdrew loan applications." (SBA OIG Report 08-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/8-11.pdf)
Despite the SBA's efforts to mask its inability to adequately respond to the volume of disaster loan applications following Hurricane Katrina, the agency still managed to accumulate a massive backlog of loan applications.
According to Report 7-20 released by the SBA OIG, following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the SBA approved 158,000 disaster loans totaling $10.6 billion. The report stated that as of September 30, 2006, the SBA had only dispersed $3.1 billion or 30 percent of the loans. Furthermore, Report 8-11 states that as of January 25, 2008, the SBA had only dispersed $6.3 billion after approving more than 160,000 disaster loans. (SBA OIG Report 07-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/7-20.pdf)
Since taking office, President Bush has cut the SBA's budget and staffing more than any other federal agency. Today, the agency's budget is less than half of what it was when President Bush took office.
Depending on the overall magnitude of the damage caused by Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and the remainder of the seasons storms, the SBA may have to once again resort to hiring inexperienced temporary workers as a means of handling the workload the agencies larger and more experienced staff was able to provide in the past.
Relief to victims of this season's hurricanes could be even worse than it was after Katrina, because the SBA's budget and staffing have been cut further in the years following Katrina.
To date, neither Senator Barack Obama (D - IL), nor Senator John McCain (R - AZ) have posed plans to restore the SBA's Budget if elected president.
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Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
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