Online Update: Senators Urge Expansion of Women's Set-Aside Thirteen senators, including five committee chairs, are urging SBA to expand its proposed set-aside program for woman-owned businesses. “To put it simply, this rule is not what we envisioned and does not reflect Congressional intent,” six senators wrote in a letter to SBA Administrator Steven Preston. “We urge you to fix the rule by expanding significantly the number of industries eligible for the program. We also urge you to drop the requirement that each individual agency conduct an analysis of its procurement history before implementing a set-aside program.” The letter was signed by Democrats Carl Levin, MI, chairman of the Armed Services Committee; John Kerry, MA, chairman of the Small Business Committee; Maria Cantwell, WA; Benjamin Cardin, MD; and Jon Tester, MT; and Independent Joseph Lieberman, CT, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. A separate letter condemning the rule came from the Senate’s eight Democratic women: Barbara A. Mikulski, MD; California's Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Rules and Administration Committee, and Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee; Cantwell and Patty Murray, WA; Mary L. Landrieu, LA; Debbie Stabenow, MI; and Hillary Rodham Clinton, NY. SBA has published a proposed rule making just four industries eligible for set-asides. The senators wrote, “We find it hard to believe that cabinetmaking, engraving, other motor vehicles dealers and national security and international affairs are the only industries in which the SBA has determined that women-owned small businesses are under-represented or substantially under-represented in government-wide federal procurement.” SBA’s Preston defended the agency’s proposal at a Jan. 30 hearing before the Senate Small Business Committee. He said SBA used a methodology recommended by the National Academy of Sciences to determine which businesses were underrepresented. “We were surprised by the number,” he testified. He said any expansion of the program would not stand up to a challenge under court decisions limiting affirmative action. The six senators sharply disagreed with the Bush administration’s legal interpretation. Preston argued that the set-aside program is just one of his agency’s many initiatives to increase contract opportunities for women. He cited outreach and training efforts to bring more woman-owned firms into the federal marketplace. Federal agencies awarded 3.4% of prime contract dollars to those firms in fiscal 2006, the latest figures available. The government has never reached the 5% goal set by Congress. The committee’s ranking Republican, Olympia Snowe, ME, joined Democrats in calling for expansion of the set-aside program. She said SBA’s proposal will have “little if any measurable impact.” House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, has also called on SBA to rewrite its rule. In October the House passed legislation directing SBA to include 22 industry sectors in the set-aside. The Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act, H.R. 3867, has not come up for a vote in the Senate. Comments on SBA’s proposed rule are due Feb. 25.