Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1807 - Capital Ownership Development Reform Act

(House)
(Mavroules (D) Massachusetts and 36 others)

The administration has no objection to House passage of H.R. 1807, which concerns the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Capital Ownership Development Program and the section 8(a) set-aside program, but will seek amendments in the Senate. These would include amendments to:

— delete the provision in section 7 that would establish a training program for employees or potential employees of 8(a) firms, which would be costly and duplicative of the job training assistance provided under the Job Training Partnership Act and vocational education programs;

— delete the provision in section 7 that would establish new direct and guaranteed loan programs for 8(a) firms, which would duplicate SBA's existing lending program;

— delete the provision in section 19 that would enable firms that exceed the small business size standards by up to 25 percent to bid on Department of Defense contracts that are set aside for bid by small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals;

— delete the provision in section 16 that would require the SBA Inspector General to keep congressional committees duly informed of the details of an ongoing investigation, because such a requirement raises separation of powers and due process concerns;

— delete the provision in section 7 that would provide for a waiver of the Miller Act, a law administered by the Department of Labor which requires payment bonds to protect wages of workers on Federal construction contracts; and

— delete provisions in sections 5, 6, 8, and 15 that would extend, and establish in statute, a firm's eligibility to participate in the 8(a) program from seven to nine years. Such an extension would (l) limit SBA's flexibility, (2) restrict the number of minority firms that could be assisted under the program, and (3) limit the number of firms'that could compete for available procurements.