SLS 201ES-223 ORIGINAL
2020 First Extraordinary Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 22
BY SENATOR CARTER
CONGRESS. Memorializes Congress to extend the certification for an 8(a) business by one
additional year if the business was certified by January 1, 2020.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To memorialize the Congress of the United States to extend certifications for an 8(a)
3 business by one additional year if the business was certified by January 1, 2020.
4 WHEREAS, the 8(a) Business Development Program (program) is a business
5 assistance program that exists to level the playing field for small businesses owned by
6 socially and economically disadvantaged people or entities; and
7 WHEREAS, the program offers a broad scope of assistance to businesses that are at
8 least fifty-one percent owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged
9 individuals whose personal net worth is two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less, and who
10 own four million dollars or less in assets; and
11 WHEREAS, the 8(a) program is an essential instrument for helping socially and
12 economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain access to the economic mainstream of
13 American society and helps thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in
14 government contracting; and
15 WHEREAS, beginning as early as March 11, 2020, many states declared a public
16 health emergency as a result of the imminent threat posed by the outbreak of a respiratory
17 disease caused by a novel coronavirus known commonly as COVID-19; and
18
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SLS 201ES-223 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control suggested aggressive measures for
2 limiting the possible interaction of the public with individuals who are exposed to or test
3 positive for the virus; and
4 WHEREAS, the response by many states to the contagion of COVID-19 required a
5 large scale disruption of the state economies as many businesses were closed in order to
6 protect the public health and to prevent a spike in demand for health care services that would
7 have overwhelmed the capacity of the health care system to provide services; and
8 WHEREAS, a participant in the certified 8(a) Business Development Program
9 receives a program term of nine years from the date of the Small Business Administration's
10 approval letter certifying admission to the program, including four years in the
11 developmental stage and five years in the transitional stage; and
12 WHEREAS, efforts to slow or disrupt the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in the
13 temporary closure of many 8(a) certified businesses; and
14 WHEREAS, temporary closures of 8(a) certified businesses may have prevented
15 these businesses from reaching the program goal of maintaining a balance between their
16 commercial and government business, and this may result in poor performance reviews,
17 incomplete business planning, and unfair evaluations due to the unforeseen and unavoidable
18 consequences of COVID-19.
19 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
20 the Congress of the United States to extend certifications for 8(a) businesses for one
21 additional year beyond the requisite nine-year term, thereby allowing those 8(a) certified
22 businesses that are in the first four years of certification to remain in the developmental stage
23 an additional year if the business was certified before January 1, 2020, and similarly, the 8(a)
24 certified businesses currently in the five-year developmental stage would be extended by one
25 additional year.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
27 secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
28 Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
29 Congress.
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SLS 201ES-223 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Yoursheka George.
DIGEST
SCR 22 Original 2020 First Extraordinary Session Carter
Memorializes Congress to extend certifications for an 8(a) business by one additional year
if the business was certified by January 1, 2020.
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