I have written previously about the allegations that federal contracts that were intended for small businesses have been diverted instead to large corporations both in the United States and in Europe. A judge recently ordered the SBA to release information to the American Small Business League under the Freedom of Information Act. Today that information was released. As suspected, quite a bit of contract money has indeed been given to large businesses. The 10,000 pages that were released come from the fiscal years 2005-2006.
In the past, the Bush administration has denied that these contracts (totally over $100 billion per year) were given to larger businesses. They have conducted a significant public relations campaign to deny the findings, even findings by federal investigators.
Now that the information has been made public, it will be hard for the SBA to not make changes that will benefit small businesses. Today, a senior official at the Small Business Administration said that the first of the redefined standards that define small businesses for federal contracting purposes may be final by the end of fiscal year 2008. Once approved by the SBA officials, the draft goes to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Then it will be published in the Federal Register. This certainly is good news for small businesses.
