PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 6, 2014/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Professor Charles Tiefer,one of America's leading experts on federal contracting law has weighed inagainst a new round of proposed policies by the Small Business Administration(SBA) many people are describing as anti-small business.

Professor Tiefer has joined forces with American Small BusinessLeague (ASBL) President, Lloyd Chapman, in an effort to defeat the new SBA policy that could be devastating to thousands ofsmall businesses.

In one example, under the current policy any firm classifiedas an Information Technology Value Added Reseller (ITVAR) with less than 150 employees is considered a smallbusiness. If the SBA has their way, a small business with less than 10employees could be reclassified as a large business if their annual salesexceeded $27.5 million. In the federal market, $27.5 million could be a single order placed by a federalagency.

At the same time, thousands of legitimate small businesses wouldbe reclassified as large businesses over night. The SBA wouldcontinue to report billions of dollars in federal contracts to dozens ofFortune 500 firms and their subsidiaries as small business contracts as they havefor the last 15 years.

"This proposed SBA change breaks the law by violatingCongress's statutory intent in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010; clasheswith the SBA record of retaining all other SBA sub-industries; and, withoutjustification, repeals the SBA's 2003 action recognizing thissub-industry," Professor Tiefer stated in his comment opposing the new SBAproposed policy. "Congress enacted the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010…Congress intended to increase SBA size standards, the opposite of what thisrule does, which is to 'eliminate' the separate, higher ceiling of 150employees and replace it with the lower, $27.5 millionrevenue ceiling."

"An employee size standard is considered a better measureof the size of ITVARs operation than receipts since a substantial proportion oftheir receipts merely reflect the dollar value of equipment and softwaresold," the SBA stated in a final rule in December 2003, when the SBA originallyestablished the 150 employee ceiling.

Now in this new proposed policy, the SBA states that the reasonsfor removing ITVARs from NAICS code 541519 are because of"inconsistencies, confusion, and misuse." Professor Tiefer refers tothis ruling and ends his comment with, "The arguments the SBA puts forthsimply do not have any traction for questioning or changing the 2003establishment of the category.  It should continue, not eliminate,IT-VAR."

The last day to submit public comments to this proposed rule is Monday, Nov. 10.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-legal-scholar-slams-sba-anti-small-business-policies-281751841.html

PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 5, 2014/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the last few months the Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) has proposed sweeping changes to the federal definition of a small business thathas allowed thousands of large businesses to suddenly qualify as small businesses.

The Washington Post published a story of the new colossal smallbusiness definitions titled, "How 8,500 large companies will become small businessesovernight."

The new greatly elevated size standards will allow firms thatare up to 150 times larger than the average American firm to be considered asmall business for the purposes of federal contracting. The American SmallBusiness League (ASBL)believes the new policies are part of a plan to quietly dismantle the SBA. Several journalists published articles that agreed. The ASBL believes by raising thesmall business size standards to such high levels, legitimate small businesseswill be unable to compete with the newly large firms for federal contracts andwill subsequently be forced out of the federal marketplace and out of business.

A new round of dramatically increased small business sizestandards was proposed on Sept. 10. Those size standards will allow firms that are upto three times larger than 98% of all U.S. firms to qualify as smallbusinesses. One particular proposal that has drawn the most criticism could bankrupt over 12,000 smallbusinesses in the Information Technology (IT) industry. Currently smallbusinesses that provide IT products to the federal government are defined asInformation Technology Value Added Resellers (ITVARs) and operate under NorthAmerican Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541519. The current small business size standard for NAICS code 541519is 150 employees. If the new SBA policies take effect, anyITVAR operating under NAICS code 541519, with annual sales of over $27.5 million will be considered a large business andhave to compete with firms with up to 500 employees.

At the same time the SBA will continue to report billions of dollars in awards to manyFortune 500 firms and their subsidiaries as small business awards.

The House Small Business Committee chastisedthe SBA for diverting billions of dollars in federal small businesscontracts to Fortune 500 firms like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheonand Chevron.

NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, RTTV, Fox News, CNBC and MSNBC haveall released investigative reports on the diversion of federal small businesscontracts to Fortune 500 firms.

The American Small Business League has launched a nationalcampaign to opposethe new SBA policies they characterize as "anti-small business."In addition to their regular legal team the ASBL has retained nationallyrecognized expert on federal contracting law, Professor Charles Tiefer.

"This is obviously yet another attempt to dismantle federalsmall business programs. Think of the lunacy of continuing to report billionsin federal contracts to Fortune 500 firms as small business contracts whilesmall IT firms with as few as 10 employees will be redefined as largebusinesses," ASBL President Lloyd Chapmanstated.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-controversial-sba-policies-favor-big-businesses-over-small-businesses-281594241.html

PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/-- Professor Charles Tiefer is one of the nation's leading experts onfederal contracting law. Professor Tiefer was appointed by President Obama toserve as commissioner in 2008-2011 on the congressionally chartered, independentCommission on Wartime Contracting in Iraqand Afghanistan.

American Small Business League (ASBL) President, Lloyd Chapman,has retained Professor Tiefer to review a new SBA policy Chapman has described as "anti-small business". Professor Tiefer will bereviewing the new policy that the SBA proposed on September20, 2014.

If the new SBA policy were adopted small businesses that providea wide range of information technology (IT) products would lose their small business status and be forced out of thefederal market place. Under current federal policy, most small businessesthat provide IT products to the federal government and government primecontractors are classified as Information Technology Value Added Resellers(ITVARs) and operate under North American Industry Classification System(NAICS) code 541519.

The current small business size standard for NAICS code 541519is 150 employees. If the new SBA policy is adopted those small businesses thatprovide IT products to the federal government will be considered a largebusiness if their annual sales exceed $27.5 million.At the same time thousands of small businesses in the IT industry will be reclassified as large businesses, the SBA will continue to reportbillions of dollars in awards to Fortune 500 firms and their subsidiariesas small business contracts.

In a recent hearing in the House Small Business Committee, SBAAdministrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was scolded fordiverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms such asLockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Chevron. The SBA has recently adopted policies that will allow many of the largest firms in a variety of industries to be considered small businesses.The Washington Post published a story critical of the new policies titled, "How 8,500 large companies will become small businessesovernight."

The ASBL has launched a nationalcampaign to bring media attention to the significant negative impact the newSBA policy could have on small businesses in the IT industry. Computer Reseller News (CRN) reported on Lloyd Chapman's successful campaign back in2003 to force the SBA to reduce the small business size standard on NAICS code541519 from 500 employees down to 150 employees.

CRN journalist Sarah Kurandahas released an in-depth story on the issuewith quotes from numerous firms that could be devastated if the new policy isadopted.

Professor Tiefer has been reviewing the new propose SBA policyfor several days and agrees with the ASBL that it would have a significantnegative impact on thousands of small businesses that are currently providingIT products to the federal government.

Professor Tiefer is expected to submit his formal comment to theSBA later this week. The SBA will be taking public comment on the proposed policy changes until Nov. 10.

To view full press release, click here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/professor-charles-tiefer-joins-asbls-lloyd-chapman-to-protect-small-business-programs-281427501.html

PETALUMA, Calif., Nov. 3, 2014/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the last few months a barrage of federalinvestigations and proposed changes to federal small business programs thatcould be devastating to small businesses have been released. No Washington, D.C. basedorganization that claims to represent small businesses has publiclyoffered any objection.

In September it was uncovered the SBA had included billions ofdollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and hundredsof other firms that were ineligible. The American Small Business League (ASBL) was the only organizationthat publiclyobjected to the diversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune500 firms.

The ASBL has been the only group to publicly oppose the Pentagon's 25-year-old anti-smallbusiness Comprehensive Subcontracting Test Program (CSPTP). TheCSPTP allowed the Pentagon's largest prime contractors to completelycircumvent federal small business subcontracting goals. Small businesseslost hundreds of billions of dollars in subcontracts. The ASBL hired nationalexpert Professor Charles Tiefer to write a legal opinion onthe CSPTP that referred to it as a "sham" and that "its extension will be seriously harmful to vitalopportunities for small business to get government contracting work."

As a result of the ASBL's efforts several journalists published articles on the CSPTP that prompted a hearing in the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee. The Pentagon has since requested the program not be renewed into its28^th year of testing.

The ASBL was also the only national small business organizationto oppose a new policy proposed by the SBA that would create a"safe harbor from fraud penalties" for large businesses that commitfraud to illegally hijack federal small business contracts. The ASBL launched anational campaign to oppose the plan and issued a number of national press releases against it.

The ASBL was also the only organization to oppose theplan to essentially close the SBA by combining it with the Department of Commerce. Severaljournalist published articles agreeing with ASBL President LloydChapman that the plan was actually designed to shutter the agency.

Now the ASBL is the only national organization to oppose a new SBA policy that could force 12,000 small businesses inthe Information Technology (IT) industry out of the federal market place. If the proposed SBA policy takes effect, any IT Value AddedReseller, NAICS code 541519, with annual sales in excess of $27.5 million would be considered a large business whilethe SBA would continue to report some awards to firms such as Lockheed Martin,Northrop Grumman and Raytheon as small business awards.

The ASBL has also the only small business advocacy organizationto oppose dramatic changes in federal small business sizestandards that have allowed thousands of large businesses to suddenly bereclassified as small businesses. The Washington Post published a story on theissue titled, "How 8,500 large companies will become small businessesovernight."

The increased small business size standards will essentiallydismantle federal small business programs and make it much more difficult forlegitimate small businesses to receive federal contracts.

Please take a moment to watch Lloyd's trailerfor his new documentary.

To view full press release, click here:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/washington-small-business-groups-silent-on-federal-anti-small-business-policies-281279871.html