SBA Proposes Certification For Woman-Owned Contractors The Small Business Administration will not permit woman-owned companies to self-certify their eligibility for the women’s set-aside program, according to a proposed rule issued June 15. In the 2000 law creating the women’s contracting program, Congress authorized businesses to self-certify their eligibility. But SBA said that provision might not stand up in court. “In its 1995 decision Adarand v. Pena, …the Supreme Court questioned the use of self-certifications in affirmative action contracting programs,” the agency said in its explanation of the proposed rule. The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce charged SBA is “seeking to re-write the law – literally asserting that the SBA may simply ignore Congress when it chooses.” The Chamber has sued SBA over the five-and-a-half year delay in implementing the set-aside program. SBA said it will establish an online certification process and may accept certifications by other federal agencies, although Congress authorized the agency to accept existing certifications by “a Federal agency, a State government, or a national certifying entity.’’ “SBA certification…would reduce the likelihood of fraud and misrepresentation of [woman-owned small business] status,” the agency said. Margot Dorfman, CEO of the Women’s Chamber, said, “Through this act defying the wishes of Congress, the SBA with one stroke creates a barrier that Congress did not intend.” SBA requires 8(a), small disadvantaged and HUBZone businesses to complete a certification process, but companies owned by service-disabled veterans are permitted to self-certify. The women’s set-aside will not being operating until SBA issues a rule specifying which industries are eligible. The Rand Corporation has been hired to conduct a study on eligibility, but no completion date has been announced. In creating the program, Congress authorized set-asides for small woman-owned firms in industries that are “substantially underrepresented” in federal contracting. In industries that are “underrepresented,” set-asides would be limited to companies owned by economically disadvantaged women. SBA’s proposed rule would define “economically disadvantaged” in the same way that the term is defined in the 8(a) program. A business owner must have a net worth of no more than $750,000, excluding equity in the business and a home. An eligible company must be at least 51% owned by one or more women. However, the law “provides that ownership shall be determined without regard to any community property laws,” SBA said. The proposed rule is RIN 3245-AE65. Comments are due July 17.