Administration Shafts Women-Owned Businesses

As the Ranking Member of the Committee on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship, Senator John Kerry called out Bush and the Small Business Administration (SBA) concerning their lack of regard for women-owned businesses. Here’s a snippet of Kerry’s comments:
“Women business owners continue to be short-changed by the administration…The number of women-owned businesses is growing at more than twice the rate of all firms, but women entrepreneurs aren’t getting their fair share of the capital, counseling or contracts. There’s no place for the ol’ boys club in our government. We need to ensure that, with a smart business plan and a lot of hard work, every American entrepreneur can achieve success.”
Of the $300 billion in contracts awarded by the government, women-owned businesses (which are 30 percent of all businesses in the US) are expected to receive five percent. Yet they’re only given three. Although it doesn’t seem like much, this means that they lose out on about $6 billion per year. Additionally, (and not surprisingly) the administration has refused to implement a women’s contracting program to help women-owned businesses obtain access to federal contracts.
As infuriating as this is, I’m glad to see that our old friend (sniff, sniff) is back and doing his thang for a good cause.