Robert Jay Dilger
Senior Specialist in American National Government
Small business size standards are of congressional interest because the definition used determines eligibility for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and management training assistance as well as federal contracting and tax preferences.
Although there is bipartisan agreement that the nation’s small businesses play an important role in the American economy, there are differences of opinion concerning how to define them. The Small Business Act of 1953 (P.L. 83-163, as amended) authorized the SBA to establish size standards for determining eligibility for federal small business assistance. The SBA currently uses one of the following four criteria to determine program eligibility for firms in 1,159 industrial classifications described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): (1) number of employees; (2) average annual receipts in the previous three years; (3) asset size; or (4) for electrical power industries, the extent of power generation. Overall, the SBA currently classifies about 99.7% of all employer firms as small.
Since issuing its initial small business size standards in 1956, the SBA has based its industry size standards on economic analysis of each industry’s overall competitiveness and the competitiveness of firms within each industry. However, in the absence of precise statutory guidance and consensus on how to define small, the SBA’s size standards have often been challenged, typically by industry representatives advocating a broadening of the size standards to allow more firms in their industry to be eligible for assistance and by Members of Congress concerned that the size standards may not adequately target the SBA’s assistance to firms that they consider to be truly small.
Congress considered several bills during the 111th Congress that would have authorized an alternative size standard for both the 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guaranty programs as a means to allow more small businesses to access SBA-backed loans before passing the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The act was signed into law (P.L. 111-240) by President Obama on September 27, 2010. It authorizes the SBA to establish an alternative size standard using maximum tangible net worth and average net income after federal taxes for both the 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guaranty programs. It also requires the SBA to conduct a detailed review of not less than one-third of the SBA’s industry size standards every 18 months beginning on the date of enactment (September 27, 2010).
This report provides an historical examination of the SBA’s size standards, assesses competing views concerning how to define a small business, and discusses how various proposals to change the SBA’s size standards, including those adopted under P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, might affect program eligibility. .
Date of Report: October 6, 2010
Number of Pages: 28
Order Number: R40860
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Senior Specialist in American National Government
Small business size standards are of congressional interest because the definition used determines eligibility for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and management training assistance as well as federal contracting and tax preferences.
Although there is bipartisan agreement that the nation’s small businesses play an important role in the American economy, there are differences of opinion concerning how to define them. The Small Business Act of 1953 (P.L. 83-163, as amended) authorized the SBA to establish size standards for determining eligibility for federal small business assistance. The SBA currently uses one of the following four criteria to determine program eligibility for firms in 1,159 industrial classifications described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): (1) number of employees; (2) average annual receipts in the previous three years; (3) asset size; or (4) for electrical power industries, the extent of power generation. Overall, the SBA currently classifies about 99.7% of all employer firms as small.
Since issuing its initial small business size standards in 1956, the SBA has based its industry size standards on economic analysis of each industry’s overall competitiveness and the competitiveness of firms within each industry. However, in the absence of precise statutory guidance and consensus on how to define small, the SBA’s size standards have often been challenged, typically by industry representatives advocating a broadening of the size standards to allow more firms in their industry to be eligible for assistance and by Members of Congress concerned that the size standards may not adequately target the SBA’s assistance to firms that they consider to be truly small.
Congress considered several bills during the 111th Congress that would have authorized an alternative size standard for both the 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guaranty programs as a means to allow more small businesses to access SBA-backed loans before passing the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The act was signed into law (P.L. 111-240) by President Obama on September 27, 2010. It authorizes the SBA to establish an alternative size standard using maximum tangible net worth and average net income after federal taxes for both the 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guaranty programs. It also requires the SBA to conduct a detailed review of not less than one-third of the SBA’s industry size standards every 18 months beginning on the date of enactment (September 27, 2010).
This report provides an historical examination of the SBA’s size standards, assesses competing views concerning how to define a small business, and discusses how various proposals to change the SBA’s size standards, including those adopted under P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, might affect program eligibility. .
Date of Report: October 6, 2010
Number of Pages: 28
Order Number: R40860
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
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