Congresswoman Hirono Votes to Help Hawai‘i’s Small Businesses
House Approves Bill to Improve Contracting Opportunities for Small Firms
WASHINGTON, D.C.—
Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono today voted for the Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act (H.R. 3867), legislation which will help small businesses in Hawai‘i – including small businesses owned by veterans, women, and minorities -- seeking federal contracting opportunities. The House of Representatives passed the billby a margin of 334 to 80.
Congresswoman Hirono said, “As a member of the House Small Business Committee, I am working to help small businesses in Hawai‘i to gain their fair share of federal contacting dollars. The bill I voted for today will open up new opportunities for small businesses in our state. In addition, it will reduce waste and fraud in the SBA’s contracting initiatives, resulting in a better value for taxpayers.”
Although federal procurement opportunities are increasing, many agencies are not meeting their contracting goals for small businesses, especially those with women, service disabled veterans, minority and low income owners. The failure to meet these goals for 6 years in a row has cost entrepreneurs $4.5 billion in lost opportunities.
Various contracting programs offer technical assistance and targeted benefits to help small businesses get a start. However, the programs have fallen far short of their full potential, leaving many small businesses outside of the federal marketplace. The Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act addresses this by making important improvements to women, minority, and service-disabled veteran contracting programs.
The legislation passed today gives service-disabled veterans top priority for contracting opportunities by requiring agencies to award sole-source contracts to firms owned by service-disabled veterans if they are identified as being capable of performing the contracts.
“These businesses currently receive less than one percent of federal government contracting dollars. Authorizing agencies to enter into sole-source contracts with service-disabled veteran-owned firms will raise the likelihood of these firms obtaining federal contracts,” Congresswoman Hirono noted. “We should always assist our veterans, including those who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious injuries, and encourage them to begin a new venture. For those who are interested in starting a small business and able to do so, this bill will help.”
Passage of this bill is also important for women-owned businesses. Congress enacted the Women’s Procurement Program in 2000 to expand opportunities for federal contracts to women business owners within industries in which they have been significantly under-represented. Seven years after the Women’s Procurement Program was enacted into law, however, the SBA has yet to establish regulations that would implement this vital program, even prompting a lawsuit by the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
H.R. 3867 requires the SBA to implement the Women’s Procurement Program immediately. The bill makes economically disadvantaged women entrepreneurs eligible for restricted competition contracts and gives the SBA the authority to waive this requirement in industries that are substantially under-represented by women-owned businesses. Today, women-owned small businesses capture only about three percent of federal small-business contracting dollars. Congresswoman Hirono said, “We need this legislation to encourage women entrepreneurs to participate in the federal contract marketplace.”
The legislation is also important to minority-owned businesses in Hawai‘i, which has a diverse population and sizable minority business community. H.R. 3867 expands and modernizes the 8(a) Business Development Program, which has not been amended since 1988, with two main improvements: providing for an inflationary increase in net worth limitations to a maximum of $550,000 for program participants and extending the duration of program participation from nine to ten years. Increasing the net worth ceiling will bring stronger firms into the 8(a) program.
The 8(a) program currently assists over 9,000 small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals nationwide, including about 200 firms in Hawai‘i.
H.R. 3867 has attracted broad support from organizations including the National Federation of Independent Business, Associated General Contractors, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
A copy of the text of Congresswoman Hirono’s floor statement is available at http://hirono.house.gov/list/speech/hi02_hirono/hr3867.html
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