The Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight released a preliminary analysis of Alaska Native corporations and their contracts with the federal government.

According to the analysis, the corporations have received $23.8 billion in federal contracts between 2000 and 2008. Last year, the contracts totaled $5.2 billion.

The subcommittee said the corporations receive a "disproportionate" share of small business contracts as a result of "special treatment" in federal law. In 2008, 19 percent of 8(a) contracts went to Alaska Natives, according to the analysis.

The information was released in preparation for a July 19 hearing on the issue. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), the chair of the subcommittee, has asked Native corporations for detailed information about their businesses.

Get the Story:
Rise in Native contracts brings Senate scrutiny (The Anchorage Daily News 6/24)

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