Pending Republican Bills Could Exclude Women and Minorities From Federal Contracts; Don’t Cheat Women Project Launches to Oppose

National campaign aims to preserve and increase opportunities that lead to more jobs and a healthier economy

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., introduced S. 4390 and H.R. 8511, and if passed, the bills would cut off major paths that offer women-owned and minority-owned small businesses access to federal contracting opportunities. The bills would end the 5% federal contracting goal for women-owned small businesses and bar agencies from tracking who receives contracts by gender or minority status.

To combat this direct attack on jobs and opportunity, the American Small Business League (ASBL) has launched the Don’t Cheat Women Project to oppose these bills and make clear what is at stake for the economy.

“Under this administration, the American economy is suffering, and these bills would make things even worse,” said Lloyd Chapman, founder and president of the American Small Business League. “While we are already experiencing some of the lowest jobs numbers in modern history, these bills would have a rippling effect on the economy, killing well over a million jobs a year. We are asking the entire business community to raise their voices in opposition.”

If passed, these bills would:

• close thousands of businesses,
• eliminate hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and
• end tracking and reporting on who receives contracts.

Women own over 40% of all U.S. businesses, and many of those companies sell what the government buys. Yet, companies owned by men already receive more than 95% of federal contracting opportunities. These bills are built on the idea that even 95% may not be enough. Under S. 4390 and H.R. 8511, male-owned, nondisadvantaged firms could get 100% of those opportunities.

The ASBL is leading the effort to reject these bills and raise the women-owned small business federal contracting goal from 5% to 15% by launching the Don’t Cheat Women Project. Eliminating the 5% goal would mean accepting the loss of an estimated 500,000 jobs every year, while increasing it would steer approximately $112 billion in federal contracts to women-owned small businesses and create roughly 1.5 million new jobs annually at no new cost to taxpayers.

Belinda Guadarrama, founder and CEO of GC Micro, said the bills would further weaken the economy: “When women-owned firms win federal work, they hire locally, pay taxes and reinvest in their communities.”

The urgency is not theoretical. Since January 2025, $47 billion in small business contract spending has been cut and more than 6,500 small firms have exited the federal market. These changes have already added to the pressure on small businesses operating in the federal marketplace.

To stand on the side of economic growth, visit the American Small Business League on LinkedIn for updates, explainers and direct ways to make your voice heard.

About the American Small Business League

The American Small Business League is a national advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening small businesses and the jobs they create. With roughly 36 million small businesses representing 99.9% of all U.S. companies, ASBL works to ensure that federal contracts and policies support small firms as intended. Through research, public education and advocacy, ASBL examines how contracting dollars are awarded and calls for accountability when small business programs fall short. Its goal is simple: keep opportunity in the hands of the small businesses that drive job creation, innovation and local economic growth. For more information, visit www.asbl.com.

Press Contact:
Blattel Communications
dcw@blattel.com