SBA has extended the public comment period until June 15 on its proposed changes in size standards for NAICS sector 54.

The Senate has passed a one-year extension of the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The program will expire at the end of May unless the House acts.

Reauthorization of SBIR has been held up since 2008, primarily because of a dispute over whether companies controlled by large venture-capital investors should be permitted to participate.

This year a long-term reauthorization bill stalled in the Senate after Republican senators proposed about 150 amendments aimed at weakening federal regulations. Unable to resolve the impasse, Senate leaders withdrew the bill from consideration and said it would not come up for a vote this year.

SBA plans to hold tribal consultations next month on new rules governing the 8(a) program. The rules, effective Sept. 9, place restrictions on 8(a) joint ventures and make many changes in income and asset requirements. (SAA, 2/18)

The consultations will be held on June 8 in Milwaukee and on June 23 in Anchorage, AK. People wanting to attend must pre-register one week in advance by email to chequita.carter@sba.gov or by fax to 202-205-6139.

For details, see SBA’s notice in the May 13 Federal Register.

A Senate committee has recommended passage of legislation to strengthen the Federal Protective Service. The Secure Facilities Act, S. 722, provides for improved training and supervision of the contract guards that protect federal buildings.

Undercover investigators have succeeded in smuggling bomb-making materials into some buildings. Investigations by the Government Accountability Office have documented poor training—including some guards who did not know how to operate X-ray screening equipment—and lax supervision of the contractor force.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the bill by voice vote. “The FPS is a dysfunctional agency, struggling to perform its mission, and the evidence of that is overwhelming,” said committee chairman Joe Lieberman, I-CT. “This legislation is urgently needed to set the agency back on course so it can protect the thousands of people who work and visit federal buildings.”

Budget cuts are hitting the Obama administration’s efforts to upgrade the federal government’s online presence.

The newspaper Federal Times reports two government websites will shut down for lack of money: FedSpace, a social networking site for federal employees, and the Citizen Services Dashboard, which was designed to provide feedback on the quality of government services.

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said improvements will be delayed for USASpending.gov, Performance.gov and Data.gov. USASpending will not receive funding to improve the accuracy of its contracting data.

The Social Security Administration is stopping construction of a 330,000-square-foot call center in Jackson, TN, because of budget cuts.

GSA, which is supervising construction, said only the exterior shell will be finished, the Jackson Sun newspaper reported. The government is trying to sell the building back to the developer.