A recent federal appeals court ruling does not servethe interests of transparency in small business federal contracting, accordingto a public interest watchdog group. The ruling "dealt a blow to the causes ofopen government and contracting transparency," Neil Gordon, investigator forthe Project on Government Oversight, wrote about the decision. The U.S. Courtof Appeals for the 9th Circuit judged that the Defense Dept. does not have todisclose Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s small business subcontracting plan for itsDOD contracts under the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program. Underthe test program, Sikorsky and others may file a single plan outliningsubcontracting payments to small firms for all their DOD contracts, rather thanfiling such plans for each contract. The case started in 2013 with a Freedom ofInformation Act request by the American Small Business League, run by LloydChapman. While a lower court supported ASBL's request, the case was appealed.

The lawsuit shines a light into the test program, apilot program since 1990. ASBL and other critics say it has not shown results.Nonetheless, Congress recently renewed it until 2027. The 9th circuit ruledthat some of Sikorsky's information--including "the names of Sikorsky'ssubcontractors, the type and dollar amount of the goods and servicessubcontracted by Sikorsky, details about the company's subcontracting processand organizational structure" falls under a FOIA exemption for trade secretsand commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential.

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