Small Business Runway Extension Act Adjusts Look-back Period from Three to Five Years for Calculating Size Determinations, but SBA May Not Immediately Implement the Law
The New Law
Shortly after passage by the Senate, President Trump signed the Small Business Runway Extension Act, P.L. No. 115-324, into law on December 17, 2018. The new law amends the Small Business Act to adjust the look-back period for calculating a company’s size based on average annual gross receipts from three years to five years.
Proponents of the law have lauded the assistance it will provide to growing small businesses, which in the past have been unceremoniously closed out of small business set-aside procurements before they have the resources to compete with larger government contractors. The longer look-back period benefits companies with lower revenue in prior years by allowing them to include those earlier years in calculating the company’s average annual receipts. The longer period also allows additional years of gross revenue to balance out a unique year of significant growth or income. Critics, however, worry this will hurt small businesses that must now compete with “larger” small businesses that remain eligible for small business set-aside procurements for longer.
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