Section 8(a) Alaska Native Corporations Singled out for Legislative Amendment

Apparently the new interim rule change proposed by the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on March 16, 2011, for sole source contracts did not go far enough to satisfy Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., chairwoman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight.   Senator McCaskill, proposed a amendment to the 2011 Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Reauthorization Act that would put Alaska Native Corporations (“ANCs”) on equal procurement footing with other companies operating in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program.   The basis for the amendment is to eliminate contracting practices that aren't providing taxpayers with the best bang for their buck, according to Senator McCaskill. The amendment would eliminate the ANCs' ability to receive sole-source contracts of unlimited value.  In addition, it would prevent Alaska native firms from automatically being designated as socially and economically disadvantaged. The companies would have to prove that status upon entering the 8(a) program. The corporations also would have to be managed by individuals who qualify as economically and socially disadvantaged. The program currently allows the corporations to be managed by non-natives, often from locations in the Washington metropolitan area.  These new restrictions, along with others proposed in the amendment, apply only to ANCs and not native Hawaiian organizations or corporations owned by native tribes, all of which are provided the same contracting preferences under Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program .   

The 2011 Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Reauthorization Act is currently being debated by the Senate and could be up for a vote this week.

Read the supporting article at: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=47492&dcn=e_gvet