Report: Alaska program for fed contracts does little for Natives

WASHINGTON -- A program allowing Alaska Native corporations to win no-bid federal contracts gave $21 billion in government work since 2000 for the top 19 firms but only modest benefits for Alaska Natives, according to a Senate panel's report to be released Thursday.

Proceeds from federal contracting provided about $615 per year in benefits to the 130,000 Alaska Natives who are shareholders of the companies, the analysis by staff of the Senate Contracting Oversight Subcommittee found. All told, the Alaska Native companies provided about $720 million in dividend payments, scholarships, cultural programs and other benefits from their federal contract revenue, the analysis found.

The panel, chaired by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., plans to release the report at a hearing Thursday on federal contracting by Alaska Native corporations, which expanded from $508.4 million in 2000 to $5.2 billion in 2008. The analysis also found that 5.2% of the companies' employees were shareholders in their employer and that non-Native managers collected 69% of the executive pay at the Alaska Native companies.

Federal contractig rules give Alaska Native companies "a giant loophole" that inhibits competition and hurts other potential minority-owned government contractors, McCaskill said Wednesday.

"I have no problem that ANCs have grown and become successful," McCaskill said. "The issue is whether the American taxpayer is getting the best value for their dollar in government contracting."

Alaska Native corporations have launched a counteroffensive, buying ads in Capitol Hill publications and posting a website saying the companies are "providing exceptional value to the U.S. government at no extra cost to the taxpayer."

The companies are merely participating in a program Congress created to encourage economic development among some of the nation's poorest communities, said Lance Morgan, chairman of the Native American Contractors Association. The trade group includes Alaska Native corporations and businesses owned by American Indian tribal governments, which have similar contracting advantages.