SBA has increased its maximum guarantee of surety bonds to $5 million, up from $2 million, as mandated in the Recovery Act.

In the past year, SBA also implemented a new electronic bond application Process for small businesses and surety companies. For assistance in locating a participating surety company or agent, go to www.sba.gov/osg or call 1-800-U ASK SBA.

Government Accountability Office auditors praised the Veterans Affairs Department for its efforts to award contracts to veteran-owned businesses.

While the governmentwide contracting goal for service-disabled veteran-owned firms is 3%, VA set its goal at 7% in fiscal 2008, and awarded 11.8% of its dollars to SDVs.

VA is the only agency permitted to set aside contracts for non-disabled veterans; in 2008 it awarded 14.9% of its dollars to those companies.

GAO said VA’s performance reflects “leadership commitment and broad-based agency efforts.” Job evaluations grade contracting personnel on their goal achievements.

Nearly all of VA’s major contracting offices met or exceeded the goals.

The Senate Budget Committee voted to add $180 million to the Obama administration’s budget request for SBA. That would bring the budget to $880 million, the amount recommended by the Senate Small Business Committee.

In sponsoring the increase, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-MD, described SBA as “an agency that has been short-changed for too long and now more than ever needs to be well-funded and fully-staffed so that it can offer small businesses the technical assistance and support they need to weather these difficult economic times.”

By some calculations, the SBA budget shrank by as much as 40% during the eight years of the Bush administration.

Both houses of Congress have voted to extend SBA programs through July 31. A permanent reauthorization bill has been held up for more than a year.

One contentious issue is the Small Business Innovation Research Program. Some technology companies are pushing to open the program to small companies that are controlled by large venture capital firms.