At today’s House Armed Services Committee Army Budget hearing, Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ) presented a letter to the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable John McHugh, asking him to look into reports that small businesses are not being paid in a timely manner for contract services rendered. Rep. Runyan was recently contacted by a local small business owner who had not been paid for the work her business had done for the Department of the Army for several contracts with unpaid invoices over several months. Following this complaint, the Congressman was contacted by several other constituents who were also being impacted by lack of timely payment and were looking for help.
“I am very concerned about the problems I am hearing about some Department of the Army contractors not being paid in a timely manner — or at all,” said Rep. Runyan. “I have already heard from a number of my constituents who are small business owners, looking for answers and getting nowhere with the Army. It is totally unacceptable that the Army’s new General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) is not able to keep pace with the payments for contract invoices that are due. The Third District economy is heavily impacted by the Department of Defense and if these Army contracts are not being paid in a timely manner there could be terrible repercussions for area small businesses in Southern New Jersey.“
“What is most troubling is that in looking into this issue of non-payment for my own constituents, I found that the problem may be even more widespread. Small businesses nationwide also aren’t having their invoices paid — some for several months at a time and in the amount of thousands of dollars. It is completely unreasonable for the Army to expect any small business or contractor to absorb that lack of cash flow.”
New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District is home to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) and hundreds of businesses, both large and small, that work closely with the base and the DoD. Congressman Runyan is a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and was appointed to the Committee’s Panel on Business Challenges within the Defense Industry.
