SBA Funding at Risk Following SCOTUS Ruling on Affirmative Action?

This June, in the companion cases SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling effectively eliminating the application of affirmative action in the college admissions process. While the immediate effects of the Court’s ruling on affirmative action programs in colleges are clear, it appears there may be a broader impact on federal programs such as the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program. SBA 8(a) provides a significant amount of federal funding towards small businesses owned by disadvantaged individuals, but the Business Development Program has already been challenged in a federal court in Tennessee and may face further restrictions should the courts find race is considered in determining which businesses qualify as disadvantaged.