The federal government is appealing a San Francisco District Court ruling compelling it to hand over documents to a small-business advocacy group that is accusing the feds of cheating small businesses out of billions of dollars worth of government contracts.

The advocacy group, called the American Small Business League, had requested documents under the Freedom of Information Act that would reveal the names of all the firms that received federal small-business contracts during 2005 and 2006.

The court ruled that the feds needed to comply. During the proceedings, the federal government tried to argue that it does not have any information on the actual recipients of federal small-business contracts.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn H. Patel rejected the government's argument.
"The court finds curious the (federal government's) argument that it does not 'control' the very information it needs to carry out its duties and functions," she wrote in her opinion.

The league believes billions of dollars in grants meant for small businesses have actually gone to large businesses such as Fortune 500 companies and their subsidiaries.