SBA has extended the public comment period for the women’s set-aside rule an additional 30 days, until March 28. The agency said it granted the extension “due to public request.”

Contracting officers must include the requirements to use the Federal Desktop Core Configuration for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista in all applicable procurements under a final rule issued Feb. 28 by the Federal Acquisition Regulations councils.

The councils said, “This final rule will assist agency adoption of common security configurations by ensuring affected information technology providers incorporate common security configurations when delivering agencies their products.”

The Office of Management and Budget issued the standard configuration last year.

SBA has launched a free online training course, “Business Opportunities: A Guide to Winning Federal Contracts.” The course module includes more than 40 links highlighting the best contracting resources and directly engages entrepreneurs in the contracting process.

SBA says the course takes about 30 minutes. It is available at www.sba.gov/training.

The House Small Business Committee rejected President Bush’s proposed SBA budget for 2009 as inadequate.

The committee said the administration’s spending proposal for SBA programs represents a 15% cut from the amount Congress appropriated for 2008. “The Administration’s budget for FY 2009 is short on new ideas, continuing eight years of systematic eradication of federal initiatives meant to spur entrepreneurship,” said Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-NY.

The chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, said, “Cutting funding for small businesses is just another reminder that the Bush Administration has lost touch with economic reality.”

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has published a pamphlet, “Working With Government Contractors.” While it is written for federal employees, it concisely spells out rules for those employees and contractors, covering such matters as conflicts of interest, gifts and revolving-door rules.

The pamphlet is available at www.usoge.gov/pages/forms_pubs_otherdocs/fpo_files/booklets/bkGovContractor_07.pdf.