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The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship works hard to ensure that small businesses have fair access to federal contracting opportunities, including opportunities for minority, women and service-disabled veteran owned firms. Small businesses face many challenges in competing for federal contracts, including a maze of complicated regulations, contract bundling, size standards with loopholes for big businesses, a lack of protections for sub-contractors, and an absence of accountability for meeting small business contracting standards.

Federal agencies are mandated by law to spend 23 percent of their contract dollars with small firms, with women and disadvantaged firms to receive 5 percent of dollars and service-disabled veteran firms to receive 3 percent. In 2007, the Committee passed legislation to improve contracting opportunities for small businesses.

Press Releases
08/21/09	Landrieu Comments on Federal Contracting Scorecard
08/18/09	Landrieu Comments on Administration's Efforts to Increase Contracting for Small Businesses
07/24/09	Landrieu, Snowe Amendment Passes Senate
07/23/09	Landrieu, Snowe Amendment Makes Government Contracting Programs Equal
05/21/09	Landrieu, Snowe Hold Hearing on Small Business Contracting Opportunities in Recovery Act

Statements
01/29/09	Statement of Senator Mary Landrieu on Investing in Small Business: Jumpstarting the Engines of our Economy
11/13/07	Kerry Opening Statement on Lender Oversight and Fraud Prevention
11/07/07	Kerry Opening Statement on Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act Markup
11/01/07	Kerry Statement on the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2007
10/29/07	Cardin Opening Statement on Improving The Ability of Everyone to Access Federal Contracting Opportunities

Articles
03/06/09	Senators Urge Better Agency Coordination
12/08/08	What Will Obama's SBA Be Like?
10/31/08	Senators Push for More Transparency in Procurement Plan
10/24/08	SBA at a Crossroads
10/23/08	Feds Short on Contract Target