A current issue critical to the survival of small business involves the U.S. Small Business Administration efforts to make size standards easier to understand and use. On December 3, 2004, it published an advanced notice of proposed rule making seeking comments from the public on simplifying and improving upon the structure of size standards. These issues were raised during the comment period of SBA's recently withdrawn proposal to restructure its small business size standards.

SBA encourages all to read the Advanced Notice of Public Rule Making: http://www.sba.gov/size/anprm.html or http://www.sba.gov/size/anprm.pdf. It discusses SBA concerns, gives instruction on how to submit comments, and provides contacts for additional information.