The Obama administration plans new measures to free up credit for small businesses, the Washington Post reported.

The administration will ask Congress to raise the $5 million limit on SBA loans. That limit was increased temporarily from $2 million in the Recovery Act.

Because SBA-backed loans are only a tiny fraction of total small-business loans, the administration is also considering providing money for community banks to lend to small firms, according to the newspaper. The money would come from the bailout fund created by Congress, which has been used primarily to shore up large banks and corporations.

Defense agencies are posting inventories of their service contracts as required by the 2008 Defense Authorization Act. The reports, which will be available on each agency’s website, describe the scope of each contract but does not include contract numbers, contractor identification or other proprietary or sensitive information that could disclose a contractor’s proprietary proposal information.

GSA has merged several furniture and furnishings schedules. Effective Oct. 1 a new GSA Schedule 71 combines the product and service offerings of Schedules 71 I, 71 II, 71 III, 71 III E and 71 II H. The offerings include furniture project solutions, including design and installation, for offices, dormitories, barracks, day care and educational facilities, healthcare environments and more.

In addition, the new GSA Schedule 72, Furnishings and Floor Coverings, combines the old Schedules 72 II and 72 I. Products and services include flooring, carpeting, tile, wall art, window treatments, bedding and assorted decorative accessories.

SBA has introduced a new training course, “Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs,” as part of what the agency calls “an ongoing government-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businesses in the area of government contracting.”

The course is available at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining.

“This online training course makes critical information and training available to an even wider array of women entrepreneurs and small business owners,” said Ana Harvey, assistant administrator for SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership. “SBA wants to help ensure they have the tools and resources they need to compete for and win federal contracts.”

SBA has not yet created a set-aside program for woman-owned businesses, nearly nine years after it was approved by Congress. The federal government has never achieved its 5% goal for contracting with woman-owned firms.