The U.S. Small Business Administration has decided to appeal a U.S. District Court ruling against them, directing the agency to release the specific names of all recipients of federal small business contracts during federal fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League of Petaluma under the Freedom of Information Act after the SBA refused to comply with the ASBL's request.

The ASBL requested the data to prove that during the Bush Administration most small business contracts were actually awarded to Fortune 500 firms.

The case now goes to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Court documents indicating the SBA's justification for appealing the case have not been released

But the founder of ASBL thinks he knows why.

"It's obvious the Bush Administration has something to hide. Why else would they be willing to go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over simple information that should be readily available to every citizen?” says ASBL President Lloyd Chapman.

“Since 2002, there have been 15 federal investigations that have found the Bush Administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to large corporations. That is the real reason the SBA is withholding this data, particularly this close to an election," Mr. Chapman says.