Is federal procurement policy too complex and burdensome for small businesses?

Angela Styles testified before the house committee regarding legislation that will affect how thousands of small businesses seek federal contracts under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) contracting programs. Styles is the former administrator for federal procurement policy in the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, and she is currently a government contracts group partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, a law firm based in Washington, D.C.

"I have come to strongly believe that the system is too complex for either federal contracting officers or small businesses to understand," Styles said. "I am particularly concerned that the more complex this system becomes, the greater the opportunity for fraud, abuse and simple error. Through technology and simple clarifications in the law, Congress can dramatically improve the system for small business contracting and foster the public's faith in the integrity of the contracting system."

In her role at the White House, Styles had direct responsibility for developing procurement policies to promote the achievements of small business goals, aggressively fighting to ensure that America's small businesses had maximum access to federal procurement opportunities. At the hearing, she warned of a series of factors contributing to greater problems and excessive hurdles for small business contractors.

"In essence, we have half the contracting officers spending double the money in a constantly changing and complex regulatory environment with minimal training on small business issues," Styles said. "Many small businesses give up trying to understand the regulatory complexities or make unintentional errors in application."

Speaking before Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and other members of the committee, Styles recommended improvements for the system, such as:

• Creating a single automated point of entry for small businesses through the SBA.
  
• Directly populating the Central Contractor Registration with information from the single automated point of entry, thus reducing the many locations required for businesses to submit information and reducing the chances for error and abuse.
• Simplifying and automating the decision-making process for contracting officers so that they are able to prioritize and work more effectively.

"The most vital objective in this arena is a commitment to the inclusion of small businesses in the federal contracting process," Styles added. "The statutes and regulations should be clear and easy to understand, and the information regarding these programs should be accurate. Everyone benefits when small businesses are allowed to compete."

For a copy of Styles' complete testimony, click here.