Law takes aim at Alaska contracting loopholes

Br Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO.) introduced legislation Wednesday that aims to eliminate special preferences for Alaska native corporations to receive government contracts, according to a release.

McCaskill is chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight and investigated the hiring practices of Alaska corporations in 2009. The probe uncovered evidence of abuse and waste. Frequently, large organizations were receiving contracts for this small business program.

“We’ve seen that a very small portion of these companies’ profits are reaching native Alaskans, so it’s time to acknowledge the fact that this program is not effective for either native Alaskans or taxpayers,” McCaskill said in the release.

The Alaska native corporations were created in 1971 to allow socially and economically disadvantaged small companies to gain federal contracts, according to the release.

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