Archive for July, 2009

US Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) wants the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to hold a hearing this fall on the Native American 8 – A program.  It gives Alaska Native Corporations extra advantages so they can net high-value government contracts.
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Sarah Palin isn’t the only politician causing a kerfuffle in Alaska.
As part of her leadership of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has been exploring the regulation of Alaska Native Corporations, which were created in 1971 as part of a pact between the government and native Alaskans to settle land [...]

HEARING TODAY: Federal report calls for limits as Alaska delegation comes to corporations’ defense.
WASHINGTON — Wealthy Alaska Native corporations that benefit from no-bid federal contracts have used their special preferences far beyond their original purposes, said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who will be leading a critical public review of the program today.

McCaskill, chair of a [...]

The leader of a Senate oversight subcommittee plans to pursue a tough line of questioning during a hearing on Thursday on procurement advantages that have helped Alaska native corporations dramatically increase their business with the federal government.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, said on [...]

This week in our nation’s capital, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is chairing a hearing on the provisions of the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development Program. The 8(a) program, created by Congress in the 1960s, provides disadvantaged businesses, whether veteran-owned, Hispanic-owned or female-owned, with contracting opportunities with our federal government. It also has a special [...]

Senator Begich’s office asked ISER for assistance assembling information to document
the social and economic status of Alaska Natives and the benefits of the 8(a) program.
His purpose is to brief Missouri Senator McCaskill and her committee which is reviewing
the status of ANC contracts awarded under SBA’s 8(a) program. This review was
triggered by a 2006 GAO report [...]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The preference that Alaska Native corporations receive in landing federal contracts is coming under increased scrutiny.
A hearing in the U.S. Senate later this week will examine the program, known as 8(a), which allows Alaska Native Corporations to receive larger no-bid contracts than other corporations.
Now, fearing the added scrutiny could alter the program, [...]