05/11/2007
The U.S. House passed the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act (H.R. 1873) on Wednesday by a vote of 409-13. This legislation, supported by NFIB, ensures greater opportunity for small-business owners to compete for prime federal contracts and subcontracts. A key provision in the legislation imposes stricter standards on the combination of small orders into large contracts, known as contract bundling, through new limits and reporting requirements.
NFIB research indicates that contract bundling creates significant obstacles for small businesses since often the packages are too large for them to handle. When these large projects are created, small businesses are unable to compete because of the nature of the requirements. Since the federal government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the United States, it is unfair for small business to be pushed out of bidding because of contract bundling.
"H.R. 1873 had significant bipartisan support and we were pleased to work with Congress to help pass this legislation," said Dan Danner, NFIB executive vice president. "This bill helps to level the playing field for our nation’s job creators in order to compete for federal contracts."
