Thepublic should be allowed to request records belonging to the National SecurityCouncil like they do for other agencies, according to one Republican lawmaker.

Rep.Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., has introduced an amendment to the House's National Defense Authorization Actfor fiscal 2017 that would make all National Security Council records createdafter the bill is passed subject to a Freedom of Information Act request, inthe latest attack against the advisory board that critics say has grown toolarge.

TheNational Security Council responded to FOIA requests under previousadministrations up until 1996, when a court case exempted the advisory boardfrom participation in the transparency program.

"Theincreasing micromanagement from the White House directly reduces the amount ofoversight that Congress can have and undermines the authority of the Departmentof Defense," Walorski said in a statement when she previously introducedthe plan as a standalone bill. "This legislation is critical for this andfuture administrations and serves as a public reminder that presidents cannotavoid public scrutiny or accountability by consolidating authority in the WhiteHouse."

Theamendment will be debated when the bill, which passed committee in April,reaches the full House floor this month.

Rep.Mac Thornberry, R-Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, istrying to cap the size of the president's advisory council "wellbelow the current 400," staff told reporters last month. If it increasesbeyond that size, it would lose its distinction as an advisory body and becomesubject to congressional oversight, including approval of its leader bylawmakers, under his proposal.

Themove is in response to criticisms that the large advisory board micromanagesthe military and Pentagon.

TheWhite House pushed back against the plan to cut staff, saying that themove would reduce the NSC staff to less than the number of aides on the SenateArmed Services Committee and hamper the next administration's ability to form aforeign policy team.

"Apparently,these lawmakers feel that they should have more national security staffers thanthe president of the United States," a senior administration official toldthe Washington Examiner.

Sen. JohnMcCain, R-Ariz., said last month that the Senate bill will likely also include aprovision to cap the size of the National Security Council.

To view fullarticle, click here: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/lawmaker-nsc-should-be-subject-to-foia-requests/article/2590766

The AmericanSmall Business League (ASBL) has filed aninjunction in Federal District Court in San Francisco against the SmallBusiness Administration (SBA), asking the court to stop policies theorganization claims defraud small businesses and "cheat small businesses out ofhundreds of billions in federal contracts." Specifically, ASBL takes issue withthe way the SBA categorizes the dollars awarded to small businesses whencalculating whether the federal government achieved its annual goal ofawarding 23% of contracting dollars to small businesses.

According tothe ASBL press release:

The SBA hascreated a policy they call the "exclusionaryrule" and "smallbusiness eligible dollars" that uses a significantly lower federalacquisition budget number to calculate the percentage of contracts awarded toall categories of small businesses. The ASBL maintains the SBA's exclusionarypolicy has no basis in the law and has allowed the SBA to defraud smallbusinesses out of billions in federal contracts.

Data fromthe Congressional Budget Office indicates a total federal budget for fiscalyear 2015 of $3.9 trillion and a discretionary spending budget of $1.2trillion. The ASBL believes $1.2 trillion is the most accurate acquisitionbudget number that should be used to calculate the volume and percentage offederal contracts awarded to small businesses for FY 2015.

Anyone whohas been following the drama encircling the SBA's annual Small BusinessProcurement Scorecard should be familiar with this complaint. In other words,the SBA limits the larger pool of contracting dollars to a smaller chunk, whencalculating the percentage of small business contracting dollars, creating whatASBL claims is a false impression of meeting the goals. 

The secondcomplaint brought in the injunction is against the so-called "five-year rule"or "grandfathering rule," that essentially counts companies as small businessesfor five years even if they've been acquired by a larger contractor, or haveoutgrown the small business definition. According to the nonprofit Public Citizen's 2015 report, "Sleighted,"which raised a number of similar concerns:

SBAAdministrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was asked in a 2014 U.S. House ofRepresentatives committee hearing why contracts given to large businessesNorthrop Grumman, Raytheon and Chevron were counted toward small businessgoals. "We have a rule in place that says that once you get in a contract withgovernment, that you are given five years. And so if a large company acquires asmall business, then it is grandfathered in for a number of years,"Contreras-Sweet responded.

The ASBL hasbeen fighting this fight for a number of years, and was bolstered by PublicCitizen's report last year. This suit is going to be followed closely by justabout everyone involved in federal contracting and the reporting of data. Toread the suit in full, click here.

To view fullarticle, click here: http://publicspendforum.net/2016/05/05/asbl-sues-sba/

The Small Business Administration (SBA) may have been establishedto support the nation's SMEs, but a lawsuit against the government group isaccusing it of doing the opposite.

Reports from FederalNews Radio on Thursday (May 5) said that the SBA was hitwith a lawsuit earlier this week by the American Small Business League (ASBL).The ASBL is accusing the SBA of awarding small business contracts to Fortune500 firms, yet still falsifying records to suggest that it is meetinggovernment-mandated quotas for smallbusiness contracts.

"As has been the case in all previous years in which the SBA hasreleased an annual goaling report, the SBA's assertion that the percentage ofthe total value of all prime contract awards awarded to small businesses met orexceeded the congressional mandate of 23 percent is false," court documentsstated, according to reports.

The SBA is also accused of working to "fabricate thegovernment's compliance with the small business goals by using a much loweracquisition budget," documents said.

"SBA can only make this statement by creating, through agencyfiat, a class of government contracts which are, solely in the view of the SBA,subject to exclusion from being considered as part of 'the total value of allprime contract awards' as stated in the Small Business Act," the documentscontinue. "Although the language of the statu[t]e is crystal clear, every year,the SBA redefines 'total value' as meaning total value minus the contracts SBAdecides to exclude from the equation."

The Small Business Administration released its annual SMEfederal contracting report cardearlier this year, finding a record number of SME contracts. The administrationsaid it surpassed its goal of allocating 23 percent of procurement spend tosmall business suppliers, instead allocating 25.75 percent — worth $90.7billion.

In response, SBA Associate Administrator of GovernmentContracting and Business Development John Shoraka said the group's exclusionrules are constantly being updated and are, in fact, being updated to be moreinclusive for small businesses.

To view full article, click here: http://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2016/small-business-administration-lawsuit-procurement-government-contracts/

The American

Small Business League (ASBL) has filed an

injunction in Federal District Court in San Francisco against the Small

Business Administration (SBA), asking the court to stop policies the

organization claims defraud small businesses and "cheat small businesses out of

hundreds of billions in federal contracts." Specifically, ASBL takes issue with

the way the SBA categorizes the dollars awarded to small businesses when

calculating whether the federal government achieved its annual goal of

awarding 23% of contracting dollars to small businesses.

According to

the ASBL press release:

The SBA has

created a policy they call the "exclusionary

rule" and "small

business eligible dollars" that uses a significantly lower federal

acquisition budget number to calculate the percentage of contracts awarded to

all categories of small businesses. The ASBL maintains the SBA's exclusionary

policy has no basis in the law and has allowed the SBA to defraud small

businesses out of billions in federal contracts.

Data from

the Congressional Budget Office indicates a total federal budget for fiscal

year 2015 of $3.9 trillion and a discretionary spending budget of $1.2

trillion. The ASBL believes $1.2 trillion is the most accurate acquisition

budget number that should be used to calculate the volume and percentage of

federal contracts awarded to small businesses for FY 2015.

Anyone who

has been following the drama encircling the SBA's annual Small Business

Procurement Scorecard should be familiar with this complaint. In other words,

the SBA limits the larger pool of contracting dollars to a smaller chunk, when

calculating the percentage of small business contracting dollars, creating what

ASBL claims is a false impression of meeting the goals. 

The second

complaint brought in the injunction is against the so-called "five-year rule"

or "grandfathering rule," that essentially counts companies as small businesses

for five years even if they've been acquired by a larger contractor, or have

outgrown the small business definition. According to the nonprofit Public Citizen's 2015 report, "Sleighted,"

which raised a number of similar concerns:

SBA

Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was asked in a 2014 U.S. House of

Representatives committee hearing why contracts given to large businesses

Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Chevron were counted toward small business

goals. "We have a rule in place that says that once you get in a contract with

government, that you are given five years. And so if a large company acquires a

small business, then it is grandfathered in for a number of years,"

Contreras-Sweet responded.

The ASBL has

been fighting this fight for a number of years, and was bolstered by Public

Citizen's report last year. This suit is going to be followed closely by just

about everyone involved in federal contracting and the reporting of data. To

read the suit in full, click here.

To view full

article, click here: http://publicspendforum.net/2016/05/05/asbl-sues-sba/