Washington D.C.— Today, House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) led seven Small Business Committee Democrats in sending a letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) calling on the agency to release updated, disaggregated data of federal contracting spending by race/ethnicity of business owners for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22).
“Given the ongoing challenges for small businesses in the federal marketplace, including and especially for minority-owned small businesses and programs that focus on minority-owned businesses, we believe that this data will continue to demonstrate the need for targeted programs,” wrote the lawmakers. “Updating and releasing this information would be a prudent and clear step toward our shared goal of increasing opportunity for all underserved small business government contractors.”
In 2021, the Biden administration released disaggregated federal contracting data for the first time in an effort to increase transparency and equity in procurement programs. The data highlights that minority-owned small businesses continue to be underrepresented in the federal marketplace. The data has emerged as a valuable tool for lawmakers crafting policies to address barriers to entry and other obstacles for government contractors.
“The committee requests that the SBA compile this information from the FY22 data as soon as practicable,” wrote the lawmakers. “We believe that this information is especially timely and prudent and would be helpful to ongoing efforts to protect programs that level the playing field for minority-owned businesses.”
In addition to Velázquez, the letter was signed by Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Hillary Scholten (D-MI), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Dean Phillips (D-MN), and Judy Chu (D-CA).
