Senator Vows to Strangle Tribal Access to 8(a) Opportunities
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill has reinforced her intent to reduce Indian Country’s access to the Small Business Administration 8(a) contracting program by legislating it to death. She proposes language that would severely reduce access to the program by economically underserved businesses operated by tribal governments and Alaska Native Corporations. The Senator’s Press Secretary was quoted as saying: “Reform in this area is going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.”
The SBA oversees the 8(a) contracting program, the purpose of which is to allow minority small businesses, such as those owned by Tribes and ANCs, an opportunity to access and compete in the American economy. In July, Senator McCaskill chaired a Contracting Oversight Subcommittee hearing on contracting preferences for ANCs, to investigate the alleged abuses in the awarding, management and oversight of the 8(a) program insofar as Indian Country is concerned. She now appears poised to introduce legislation or language into legislation that would strangle the already tenuous access that ANCs and likely all other Tribal governmental businesses have to federal contracting opportunity – and thereby to the greater American economy and their own prosperity.
The 8(a) program already requires an intensive and intrusive process that Tribal companies and ANCs must undergo when seeking certification from the SBA. Tribal applicants must submit financial, tax and business formation documents, as well as consent to a sue and be sued clause, among other requirements to be eligible for federal contracts. In turn, the competitive contract award process utilizes predetermined methodology to ensure that the contracts are carried out efficiently and in satisfaction of the 8(a) program’s intent. Such intensive disclosure helps facilitate full transparency, accountability and efficiency by the Native business, and by the federal government. In short, federal rules governing the 8(a) program already address whatever concerns that Senator McCaskill and others have regarding federal award, management, and oversight of contracts to Tribal businesses or ANCs.
The Native American Contractors Association, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development and National Congress of American Indians have all expressed interest in guiding this important Native business policy discussion. To that end, Indian Country should request that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs conduct a hearing to explore the SBA 8(a) program’s tribal experience. Specific Native 8(a)-certified businesses should also immediately begin to formulate responses to this policy initiative, which, if enacted, may close the door on a vital federal program that has never fully been utilized by Indian Country.
