CALL TO ACTION - FEDERAL SBA ACTION

WE NEED OUR VOICE HEARD BY SEPTEMBER 21

On August 20, 2026, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) published a proposed rule (RIN 3245-AI67, 91 FR 53741) that would rewrite how the federal government defines a small business across 338 industry groups. The public comment period closes on Monday, September 21, 2026. We are asking every certified firm and every small business owner receiving this message to submit a comment. It requires approximately ten minutes of your time to make a difference.

Comments are due Monday, September 21, 2026. File free at www.regulations.gov under Docket SBA-2026-0199. Comments must be received by that date, not merely sent.

The proposed rule would, among other things:

Consolidate roughly 1,000 industry-specific size standards down to 338, collapsing distinctions between industries that operate and capitalize very differently.
Remove the ceiling that has previously capped how high any size standard may be set.
Convert the construction trades from revenue-based standards to employee-based standards ranging from 550 to 2,000 employees.
Raise Engineering Services (NAICS 541330) from $25.5 million to $252 million, and Environmental Consulting (NAICS 541620) from $19 million to $295 million.
Newly qualify an estimated 114,541 businesses as “small,” including 37,002 firms that already hold federal contracts worth a combined $71 billion.

We recognize that many of you do not perform federal work, and that this may appear at first to be a federal matter that does not reach your business. We ask you to consider it more closely.

Every small business inclusion program in this country — whether it is founded upon race, upon gender, upon veteran status, upon disadvantage, or upon size alone — descends from the federal small business contracting program created by the Small Business Act of 1953 to address the documented inequity faced by small businesses in federal contracting. Our state WMBE programs, the DBE program, city and county small works rosters, transit and port programs, and school district inclusion goals were all built upon that federal architecture, and a great many of them still define “small” by direct reference to federal standards.

We pay the taxes that fund our federal, state, county and city agencies. We fund our schools through bond measures and our community transportation through levies and bonds. The programs that provide small and minority-owned businesses fair and equitable access to that work were not extended to our community as a courtesy. They were established to remedy a documented inequity, and they were built upon the federal definition of a small business.

If we permit that definition to be diluted at the federal level, we will see the effects in every other small business program our community depends upon. A set-aside that admits firms with a quarter of a billion dollars in annual receipts is no longer a set-aside for small business. When the federal ceiling moves, the state and local programs modeled upon it follow.

We have enclosed the following:

EXHIBIT A — SBA Small Business Size Standards in A/E/C: A Baseline Data Briefing, 1999–2026. A summary of the current federal action and the history of small business size standards, showing how far the proposed ceilings have moved from the size of the average firm actually operating in these industries.

EXHIBIT B — How to Submit Your Comment to SBA: Filing Guide, Sample Letter, and Questions & Answers. Step-by-step submission instructions, a comment letter you may place on your own letterhead in both full and short form, and answers to the questions we have been receiving from our membership.

Therefore, we respectfully ask that you:

Submit a public comment on Docket SBA-2026-0199 at www.regulations.gov on or before September 21, 2026. Comments must be received by that date, not merely sent.
Submit a second comment on Docket SBA-2026-0265, the companion methodology white paper, which governs how every future size standard will be calculated. If your time permits only one filing, file on the proposed rule.
State your NAICS code, the size of your firm, and the proposed ceiling for your industry in your own words. A brief letter containing your own figures carries substantially more weight in the record than a lengthy letter without them.
Forward this message and its enclosures to your trade association, your certification office, and to other certified firms in your network.
Notify MBAC of certification networks in other states that should receive this packet. The more testimonials submitted into the record, the stronger our collective position.

This is a proposed rule and not yet final. Current size standards remain in effect unless and until SBA issues a final rule, which is precisely why the public record being built at this moment matters.

We are in this fight together, and we are at the ready to assist you in your own advocacy efforts. If you would like a second set of eyes on your comment letter before you file it, please contact us.

We thank you for your dedication to these important issues of true economic equity and inclusion for our historically economically disadvantaged communities of color.

Download PDF

May 19th 2026

Court Rules for Small Businesses, Dismisses Case Threatening Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program

Coalition of Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses and Trade Organizations Triumphs After Intervening to Defend Equity Department of Transportation Program

Frankfurt, Ky. – A U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky has dismissed a years-long lawsuit that threatened to derail the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, an effort designed to remedy the effects of historic and ongoing discrimination by ensuring that businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals have a fair shot at federal transportation contracts. Today, the court’s judgment became final as the appeal deadline has passed.

The decision is a huge victory for a coalition of minority- and women-owned businesses and trade organizations, which intervened to defend the DBE Program when it became clear that the Trump-Vance administration would use the lawsuit as one vehicle for dismantling the program instead of defending it. The coalition, which includes the National Association of Minority Contractors, Women First National Legislative Committee, Airport Minority Advisory Council, Illinois Chapter of Women Construction Owners & Executives, Atlantic Meridian Contracting Corporation, and Upstate Steel, Inc., is represented by Democracy Forward, the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Bricker Graydon Wyatt.

“Intervening in this lawsuit was never optional; it was a call to action. The government and plaintiffs tried to exclude the participation of countless taxpayers and job creators. That will never improve America’s position in the world economy. We must ensure that all business owners, of all races, from both urban and rural communities, have a fair chance to contribute to building our nation’s wealth and productivity. Anything else is injustice,” said Wendell R. Stemley, President, National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC).

“Women and minorities in highway, transit, and airport construction have faced discrimination in the past and continue to face it today. That discrimination will persist unless good citizens stand up and defend the rights of all our citizens, not just a privileged few. That is what defending democracy looks like,” said Joann Payne, President, Women First National Legislative Committee.

“Today’s outcome is a significant victory for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) and the thousands of small businesses that help power America’s transportation industry,” said Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) President & CEO Eboni Wimbush. “The DBE Program was created to address longstanding barriers that have historically limited access to federally funded contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. This outcome reinforces the importance of protecting programs that create pathways for business growth, competition, and long-term economic opportunity. AMAC is proud to stand alongside our coalition partners in defense of a program that continues to support small businesses and strengthen our nation’s infrastructure industry. We are also excited to continue working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the October 3, 2026, USDOT DBE/ACDBE Program Interim Final Rule to help ensure that all socially disadvantaged firms continue to have meaningful access to contracting opportunities throughout the transportation industry.”

“Good has prevailed…as an advocate for women construction owners who face significant deliberate discrimination, WCOE is thrilled with the outcome of this case. WCOE stood up for its members and for DBE’s across this nation. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund and Democracy Forward for believing in us and in shepherding this case to its best conclusion,” said Theresa Kern, Chair of the Board, Women Construction Owners and Executives (WCOE), Illinois Chapter.

“The opportunity to participate in this pursuit of justice, which is truth in action, could not have been more timely for the infrastructure business community as a whole. To all those who don’t fight for fear of losing, this dismissal shows what can happen when coalitions come together and stand up,” said Kenneth B. Canty, President and CEO, Atlantic Meridian Contracting Corporation (AMC-Civil).

“The DBE program is a lifeline for small businesses throughout the nation like ours, and the dismissal of this case will mean a more fair playing field for business owners who have suffered discrimination,” said Lauren Chmielowiec, President of Upstate Steel. “Upstate Steel is enormously proud to have worked with this coalition to fight for the DBE program when the government wouldn’t.”

“The dismissal of this case is a huge win for this important lifeline for small business owners who face social and economic disadvantages and will help remedy discrimination in federal contracting,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “When people unite to defend our democracy, we win. Democracy Forward is incredibly proud to have worked with our brave plaintiffs to defend the DBE Program. We call on the U.S. Department of Transportation to move quickly to ensure that this important program is available to all socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, a critical driver of the country’s economy.”

“This dismissal is a win for the small minority- and women-owned businesses who refused to sit on the sidelines while a program built to remedy documented discrimination was used as a wedge,” said Sarah von der Lippe, Pro Bono Chief Counsel at the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund. “When the federal government wouldn’t fight, our clients did. USDOT should treat this ruling as a mandate and stand up a fully functioning DBE Program without delay.”

“The current administration’s Department of Justice abandoned the DBE program. The administration then adopted interim rules to achieve what it wanted without abandoning the program altogether. The District Court correctly saw these rules as mooting the unconstitutionality claims in the lawsuit, and dismissed the case accordingly. Justice has now prevailed,” said Douglas L. McSwain with Bricker Graydon Wyatt.

The lawsuit, Mid-America Milling Co. v. DOT, was originally filed by groups seeking to eliminate race- and gender-conscious elements of the DBE Program. In September 2024, the court issued a preliminary injunction that restricted the use of DBE contract goals in states where the plaintiffs operate. In January 2025, however, President Trump’s executive orders proposed to dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility-related programs across the federal government, provoking the coalition to seek formal participation in the litigation to defend their interests. The groups asked the court to dismiss the case, which the court did on March 19, 2026. Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants sought review of the decision by the deadline to appeal on May 18, 2026, and the court today entered a final judgment dismissing the case.

Read the ruling here and more about the case here.

The Democracy Forward team working on the case includes Brooke Menschel, Adnan Perwez, Audrey Wiggins, Steven Bressler, and Robin Thurston. The MBELDEF lawyer working on the case is Sarah von der Lippe. Doug McSwain works on the case for Bricker Graydon Wyatt.

Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.