Project Labor Agreements reduce competition, increase costs for taxpayers, and add layers of bureaucracy and red tape to federal construction projects. Creating a formal federal process for imposing these Depression-era mandates on construction projects may be a win for special interests, but it's a loss for workers, taxpayers, and small businesses hoping to compete for federal jobs. NAGC is opposed to forced Project Labor Agreements that have the result of denying federal contracting opportunities to small businesses.
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Recent reports prove the E-Verify system is still not ready for prime-time. It has systemic failures that expose small businesses to severe penalties, even when the business follows the law. The current system punishes small businesses with fines and debarment from government procurement, even when the E-Verify system fails. But E-Verify isn't the only thing that has failed. Our leaders in Washington, D.C. have failed to provide comprehensive immigration reform that seals our border, preventing the flood of illegal immigrants that make these extra burdens on America's small businesses necessary.
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Anti-small business policies cost small businesses hundreds of millions each year in government contract opportunities. Through these harmful policies small businesses are being shut out of the process. Even though Congress passed legislation mandating that all federal acquisitions between $25,000 and $100,000 be exclusively set aside for small businesses, the SBA and the OMB have adopted a policy that has effectively repealed this legislation. The SBA and the OMB exempted any federal acquisition from this mandatory set-aside that is currently on the GSA Schedule. Since 99 percent of what the government buys is on this schedule, what the SBA and OMB have done is overturn a law designed to help small businesses.
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For years, the federal government has failed to meet the provisions of the Small Business Act that require agencies to meet statutory government-wide goals for government contracting. Each year, the contract report required by law demonstrates that agencies continue to fall short of their "goals." NAGC would argue that part of the problem is terminology. A goal implies that there is a direction in which agencies should target their efforts and that they should aspire to reach the established benchmarks.
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For years, the federal government has failed to meet the provisions of the Small Business Act that require agencies to meet statutory government-wide goals for government contracting. Each year, the contract report required by law demonstrates that agencies continue to fall short of their "goals." NAGC would argue that part of the problem is terminology. A goal implies that there is a direction in which agencies should target their efforts and that they should aspire to reach the established benchmarks.
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Agencies frequently combine contracts into a single large contract that pushes small businesses out of the competition for a contract. Small businesses that could have completed the requirements of the smaller contract are no longer able to compete when other contracts are bundled in, creating new requirements outside the scope of most small businesses. The only businesses left to compete for these bundled contracts are large businesses. With over $200 billion in purchases annually, the government is allowing small businesses to be cheated out of opportunities for growth through the practice of "contract bundling."
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Small businesses competing for government contracts are often assured by agencies that the agency has a goal of awarding 23 percent of contracts to small-business. What they fail to mention is that in many cases, the "small businesses" they are competing against for that 23 percent are not all that small. Companies with over 26,000 employees are often deemed "small" by the federal government when it comes to awarding contracts, while over 98 percent of America's 23 million small businesses have fewer than 100 employees.
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Anti-small business policies cost small businesses hundreds of millions each year in government contract opportunities. Through these harmful policies small businesses are being shut out of the process. Rewriting the law: Even though Congress passed legislation mandating that all federal acquisitions between $25,000 and $100,000 be exclusively set aside for small businesses, the SBA and the OMB have adopted a policy that has effectively repealed this legislation.
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Small-business goals are often met by government agencies, while large businesses are receiving more contracts. The federal government is not enforcing laws against fraud and abuse of the procurement process. Documented in a 2003 report: DOE Inspector General's office found DOE prime contracts were showing awards to large businesses as awards for small businesses in an effort to falsify reports.
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There is virtually no area of the public or private sector off limits in the immigration reform discussion. The issue of immigration reform has taken on a more pressing tone, as government entities attempt to balance the demands of a global (and seemingly borderless) marketplace and homeland security. Congress continues to struggle with immigration reform and at the heart of the issue -- the economic and security impacts of reform.
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The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 was initially introduced in 1927. It is named after James Davis, a Senator from Pennsylvania and a former Secretary of Labor under three presidents, and Representative Robert L. Bacon of Long Island, New York. The legislation was introduced after a contractor in New York employed African-American workers from Alabama instead of local union workers to build a Veteran's Bureau hospital in Bacon's district. The legislative history of Davis-Bacon reflects a desire by Congress to reserve jobs on federal projects for local, union workers, at the expense of other workers.
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Many disabled veterans opt to start their own business. The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act (P.L. 106-50) was intended to help alleviate many of the challenges that veterans (especially disabled veterans) face when looking for small business assistance. Among the provisions of the law is the establishment of a modest three (3) percent goal for service disabled veteran involvement in federal procurement contracts. Unfortunately, there has been little success in meeting this goal.
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Project Labor Agreements reduce competition, increase costs for taxpayers, and add layers of bureaucracy and red tape to federal construction projects. Creating a formal federal process for imposing these Depression-era mandates on construction projects may be a win for special interests, but it's a loss for workers, taxpayers, and small businesses hoping to compete for federal jobs.
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One of the major challenges confronting small business is the complex and overwhelming nature of federal regulations. It has been estimated that small businesses experience a nearly 50 percent greater burden than large business counterparts. Unnecessary and excessive federal regulations and paperwork burdens create disadvantages for small businesses. Often, small business owners do not have large staffs; the accounting, marketing, advocacy, personnel administration and other management activities are often the responsibility of the business owner.
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