PETALUMA, California, Aug. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — A new policy NASA is proposing could dramatically slash the volume of federal contract dollars going to small businesses in Florida. The proposed policy could have a significant negative impact on the states middle class economy. The aerospace industry is a major source of jobs and federal contracts in Florida but that could change if the new NASA policy is adopted.
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One of the nation’s leading experts on federal contracting law, Professor Charles Tiefer has issued an ominous legal opinion on the proposed NASA Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative policy. Professor Tiefer served as a Commissioner on the Congressionally chartered, independent Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The title of Tiefer’s legal opinion is, “Proposed Regulations Illegally Authorize ‘Strategic Sourcing” to Massively Reduce the Breadth of Contracting with Small Businesses”.
The legal opinion on the proposed NASA policy states, “The proposed regulations would reduce the breadth of small business contracting by up to 80% or even 90% in lines of business where small business contracting is currently common. This proposal is blatant and undeniably illegal; indeed, the proposal impliedly admits the key facts underlying the illegality”.
In his Conclusion Professor Tiefer states, “The proposal should be junked. It would have an overwhelming bad impact on the breadth of small business contracting, contrary to the intent of the small business laws”.
If adopted, the NASA policy could force thousands of Florida small business out of the federal marketplace and possibly out of business. The dramatic reduction in the volume of federal contracting dollars flowing to Florida small businesses could cost the state millions of jobs.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) has launched a national campaign to oppose the policy proposed by NASA, the Pentagon and the General Services Administration (GSA).
In 2007 the ASBL successfully sued NASA under the Freedom of Information Act and forced the agency to release documents that uncovered NASA had cheated small businesses out of millions in contracts.
The ASBL has filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in San Francisco asking the court to grant an injunction to stop federal agencies from diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox News have all reported on the fraud. The Miami Herald has closely followed the issue for thirteen years and has published a dozen stories on the fraud and corruption in federal small business contracting programs beginning in 2003.
The ASBL is advising all those opposing the NASA policy to contact their Congressmen, Senators and the Governor’s office to express their concerns. The public only has until August 19 to submit comments to the federal government opposing the policy. Comments can be submitted to:
Contact:
Jeanne Spatola
jspatola@asbl.com
707-789-9575
