U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday she does not believe
there is enough support in Congress to pass legislation that seeks to strip
Alaska Native corporations of the advantage they enjoy in obtaining federal
contracts worth billions of dollars.
The Alaska Republican told The Associated Press that new,
tighter oversight rules governing a Small Business Administration program
should be allowed to work, rather than target the corporations, as the bill
sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, seeks to do.
Murkowski acknowledged there was need for such reforms to
the program, which has been blamed for creating a system ripe for abuse that
led to federal audits and the overhaul of the rules.
“Let’s see if these regulations that have been
promulgated, how they provide for that level of accountability that we’re all
looking for,” Murkowski said.
McCaskill’s bill, among other changes, would strip Alaska
Native corporations of contracts with no monetary caps under the SBA’s 8(a)
program, which is designed to help small disadvantaged firms, including those
run by American Indian tribes and Hawaii Natives. The same legislation also has
been introduced as an amendment in a bill dealing with small-business
innovation.
McCaskill, a former auditor, has said only a small portion
of Alaska Native corporation’s profits are reaching their shareholders.
The SBA rules “don’t go far enough,” said
McCaskill spokeswoman Maria Speiser.
“The regulations do not crack down on creation of
subsidiaries by ANCs and don’t require that ANCs prove economic or social
disadvantage as other 8(a) participants,” Speiser said in an email to the
AP. “McCaskill’s legislation would put ANCs on equal footing with other
8(a) participants.”
Under the bill, the corporations would still be able to
participate in the SBA program, but they would no longer receive unprecedented
benefits ushered through Congress two decades ago by then-Alaska Sen. Ted
Stevens.
The ANCs would have to qualify under the same rules as other
program participants, such as being designated as socially disadvantaged
businesses and managed by equally disadvantaged individuals. The corporations
also would have to meet size requirements.
The corporations would be able to receive no-bid contracts
with $5.5 million caps for goods and $3.5 million for services. Larger
contracts would require that they compete.
The stricter rules address many concerns and should be given
time to show results, Murkowski said. She said the program is too important to
curtail for Alaska Natives.
“What we have allowed American Indians and Alaska
Natives the benefit of with 8(a) opportunity is to gain a level of
self-sufficiency, self-determination, which is what this is really all
about,” she said. “Give them the opportunity to go out there and
participate in this world of commerce, earn those revenues that can come back
to them and their shareholders.”
Robin Kornfield with NANA Development Corp., business arm of
NANA regional Native corp., agreed that the rules address most of McCaskill’s
concerns.
“We are pleased with the time, energy and effort the
Small Business Administration has spent assuring Native voices were part of
implementing these new regulations,” Kornfield said. “It is time to
move on, use these new rules and assess their impact in Indian Country, Alaska
and Hawaii.”
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