July 9 2004 Copyright 2004 Business Research Services Inc. 202-364-6473 All rights reserved.

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Size Standards: Back to the Drawing Board
The Small Business Administration scrapped its proposed size standards in the face of a firestorm of opposition from business owners and lobbyists and some members of Congress.

What If? Winners, Losers Under Dead Size Standards
The proposed size standards, now withdrawn by SBA, would have inflated the federal government’s spending with small businesses by about 5% “simply by reclassifying large companies that currently exceed revenue-based size standards, with no new small business spending by federal agencies,” according to an study by Eagle Eye Publishers of Fairfax, VA.

NASA Chief: "More Discussion" Needed on Future of Centers
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe expressed reservations about a presidential commission’s recommendation to convert the space agency’s field centers into contractor-operated research and development facilities.

Fund Fight Looms For Women's Business Centers
With more than half of the Women’s Business Centers facing drastic cuts in federal funding, a bipartisan group of 13 senators asked the Small Business Administration to hold off awarding grants to new women’s centers until Aug. 1, to give Congress time to change the funding formula.

Online Update: House Rejects Fee Increases on SBA Loans
The House July 7 rejected the Bush administration's proposal to increase fees on SBA’s flagship 7(a) loan program.

Bundling Strategy's Effectiveness Not Easy to Measure: GAO
General Accounting Office investigators say it will be difficult to judge the effectiveness of the Bush administration’s anti-bundling initiative because no metrics have been established to measure contract bundling or its impact on small businesses.

Study: E-Procurement Works, Up to a Point
The federal government should create true one-stop websites for contractors to register and to find information about active procurements, according to a study.

DFARS Changes
The following changes to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement were published in the June 25 Federal Register:




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