About a third of all California
small businesses for sale are owned by women. In the year 2000 the legislature approved the original women’s contracting bill. This legislation reaffirmed a 1994 law, promising small businesses owned by women at least 5% of Federal government contracts never followed. The SBA was given the task of drawing up the rules and guidelines.
Groups representing women business owners have been frustrated at the length of time it has taken the SBA to define its rules. The SBA was sued for their tardiness in 2004 by the Woman’s Chamber of Commerce. In December 2007 the SBA finally published its rules a full seven years after being given the assignment.
Woman Business Owners also do not agree with or like the SBA’s final rules and guidelines. They are not surprised that the SBA used the narrowest guidelines possible to determine the extent of the program. It has been established that in 2006 small businesses owned by women were still only getting 3.4%: Federal contracts amounting to $11 billion. Woman-owned businesses were still being deprived of $5 billion annually. Yet the SBA found very few industries where there was under-representation.
There is hope: the House has passed a bill (still to be acted on by the Senate) to raise the percentage from 5-8% for women owned businesses and furthermore to also direct a full 30% (up from 23%) of government contracts to small business. If passed a new law will bury the unpopular SBA rules. In fact the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee is holding a hearing on the issue later this month.
In a year where a woman president may be elected, one thing is certain that even if the women do not get all they want, they are going to be given a voice!
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