SBA will implement an Electronic Procurement Center Representative system to help the agency analyze individual procurements and make it easier for agencies to identify small businesses capable of providing requested goods and services.
"When I was in school and you were caught cheating on a test ... you flunked," Rep. Edolphus Towns said. "It seems that seventh-graders are held to higher standards than nuclear security contractors."
State and local governments received awards in fiscal 2007 federal funding this week for counterterrorism, emergency preparedness and interoperable communications.
Continued weaknesses in IT controls at DHS are threatening efforts to maintain the integrity of financial data within the department, according to a new report.
"We need to look at when and under what circumstances is it appropriate to be contracting and when is it not ... ," U.S. Comptroller General David Walker told a Senate committee.
To improve accountability in government procurement, two Democratic lawmakers are promoting the creation of a centralized database that tracks contractor performance and fraud.
Agencies have sent more contracting dollars to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses than in past years, but they're still falling short, an SBA official told a House subcommittee.
