The House and Senate added $3 million to President Bush’s 2006 budget request for the Small Business Administration. But the $456 million SBA appropriation that was approved by Congress Nov. 17 is about half the agency’s budget when President Bush took office.

Congress added funding for several programs that the administration wanted to eliminate, including the Microloan program, and increased funding for small business development centers and women’s business centers.

The additional money will allow continued grants to women’s business centers that are more than five years old. The administration had sought to cut funding for those centers.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved an amendment that would require the Transportation Security Administration to follow normal acquisition rules.

TSA, like the Federal Aviation Administration, is exempt from the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The amendment’s sponsor, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), said TSA “has a record of mismanagement and lack of transparency in its acquisitions.”

Kerry added, “As the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, I have been particularly concerned that TSA has been exempt from requirements that they work with small businesses. My amendment will open doors for small businesses to compete for TSA contracts from which they have been excluded in the past.”

The amendment was added to the Transportation Security Improvement Act of 2005, S. 1052. With Congress pushing to adjourn for the year soon, the bill’s prospects for passage in the current session are dim.

Four small businesses have won 48% of the prime contracts awarded under the Defense Department’s Network Solutions multiple award contract, the newspaper Federal Times reported.

NetCents contractors provide IT products and services. In its first year the eight contractors won more than $429 million in awards.

The small firms on the contract are Centech Group of Arlington, VA; Multimax Inc., Upper Marlboro, MD; NCI Information Systems, Reston, VA; and Telos Corp., Auburn, VA.

Large primes on the contract are Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton.

NASA has selected 300 Small Business Innovation Research and 40 Small Business Technology Transfer research proposals.

The small business innovative projects have a total value of approximately $21 million; technology transfer projects have a total value of approximately $4 million. Selected proposals may receive up to $70,000 for a small business innovative research contract and up to $100,000 for a technology transfer contract.

For the complete list of companies, go to http://sbir.nasa.gov.

SBA is considering terminating the waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule for commercial cooking equipment, NAICS 333319.

The agency says it has learned that a small business manufacturer is available to provide the equipment.

Comments are due Dec. 12.