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Small Business: Low Participation in Set-Aside Program Expected for Sheltered Workshops

RCED-90-192 Published: Aug 06, 1990. Publicly Released: Sep 06, 1990.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the impact of allowing sheltered workshops to compete for small business set-aside contracts.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
If greater participation in the small business set-aside program is to be achieved, Public Law 100-590 needs to be modified to reduce or remove some of the barriers. Specifically, Congress may wish to consider: (1) designating a federal agency responsible for informing sheltered workshops about the set-aside program and providing training on how to bid on federal contracts; and (2) allowing items supplied by workshops under set-aside contracts to be transferred to the list of items supplied exclusively by workshops under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Program. If desired, the total dollar amount of contracts that can be transferred could be limited to a portion of the annual ceiling imposed by the existing legislation.
Closed – Not Implemented
The GAO November 1992 follow up report (GAO/RCED-93-44) on the issue again affirmed the matter in this report. However, according to the House and Senate Small Business Committees, no legislation is pending and none is planned. So, there is no need to keep the recommendation open.

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Topics

Aid for the disabledCharitable organizationsCompetitive procurementEmployment of the disabledFederal procurementNonprofit organizationsSmall business set-asidesSmall businessSet-asidesFederal agencies