Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear a case that could have far reaching implications in agency law—including for government contractors. The Court granted certiorari to a case that could greatly diminish the amount of deference given to agencies interpreting their own regulations.
For contractors, a Supreme Court decision to curtail agency deference could lead to increased success rates in bid protests and other disputes.
The case, Kisor v. Wilkie, involves a veteran se
Updates to the SBA’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan regulations in response to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 Section 870 are changing the circumstances in which a prime contractor can receive credit for lower-tier subcontractors, effective November 13, 2023. Such changes make the inclusion of lower-tier subcontractors in certain situations optional and put the onus on the lower tier subcontractors to report such work to the SBA if the lower tier subcontractor wishes to recei
The FAR Council’s proposed update to the limitations on subcontracting, and the DoD’s subsequent FAR deviation, have been met with widespread approval by small contractors.
But for HUBZone Program participants, the proposed rule and DoD deviation contain a glaring problem: a requirement that the HUBZone member of a joint venture take sole responsibility for meeting the applicable limitations on subcontracting. This requirement, which doesn’t apply to joint venturers in other socioeconomic p
For small government contractors, the disconnect between the SBA’s updated limitations on subcontracting rule and the FAR’s outdated rules has been very confusing. For more than two years, the FAR and SBA regulation have used different formulas to determine compliance, and the SBA rule–but not the FAR–allows the use of “similarly situated entities” on small business set-asides and 8(a) contracts.
This has created major headaches for small businesses, who have had no definitive answer to what s
Earlier this year, GAO unveiled its new Electronic Protest Docketing System (“EPDS”) for bid protests. EPDS serves as the central filing system for all bid protests pursued before GAO. As a courtesy, EPDS will automatically generate a courtesy email notice anytime a new document is filed with GAO.
In a recent Request for Reconsideration, however, GAO was asked to reconsider its dismissal of a protest after the protester failed to receive the automatically-generated EPDS notice that the Agency R
Earlier this week, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule to conform the FAR to the SBA’s regulation governing limitations on subcontracting. But the DoD isn’t waiting around while the FAR Council finishes the process.
The DoD has issued a comprehensive FAR deviation, effective immediately. The DoD’s FAR deviation will, effectively, temporarily conform the DoD’s use of the FAR to the SBA’s regulation while the FAR Council works on a final rule.
The deviation instructs DoD contracting offic
The first week of December went by in a flash. Santa Claus will be here before you know it; hopefully you’ve all been very good this year!
In this week’s edition of the SmallGovCon Week In Review, data and cloud computing continue to be hot topics, GAO looks at post-disaster contractor performance, and we see the lengths the DEA is willing to go to have clean floors.
Have a great weekend!
DoD blazing the trail for back-office cloud computing. [FederalNewsNetwork]
New FAR supple
Last week I had the wonderful experience of giving several presentations at the 13th Annual Veterans Business Conference on base at Fort Bliss (El Paso, Texas). The conference was an excellent opportunity for veteran business owners to come together and learn about opportunities.
Organized by the Contract Opportunities Center, the event brought together small businesses and government agencies to meet and learn about wide-ranging topics. I was given the opportunity to discuss the All Small
In these cold winter months, gloves with touchscreen capabilities are all but essential. Recently, the Army sought to procure touchscreen-compatible combat gloves, but required that all goatskin leather used for the gloves be “100% Domestic” in accordance with the Berry Amendment.
In Mechanix Wear, Inc., B-416704 (Nov. 19, 2018), however, GAO sustained a protest against this requirement because the item being procured was subject to a Berry Amendment exception.
In its initial RFP,
Let’s suppose that you, a small business, were previously awarded a long-term contract set aside for small businesses. But over the past few years, business has been good and you’ve outgrown the size standard assigned to the contract. Can you still be awarded a task order under the contract? Yes–if the contracting officer doesn’t require you to recertify your size in connection with the task order request, and no contract-specific terms–like mandatory off-ramps–say otherwise.
This important pri
This week, the SBA published a press release affirming its continued support of its 8(a) Business Development Program in response to recent 8(a) Program attacks in the courts. In the press release, business industry leaders across the nation joined SBA Administrator, Isabella Casillas Guzman, in praising the 8(a) Program, its successful history, and its driving policy and spirit.
If you are not up to speed on the recent 8(a) Program happenings, take a look through the recent 8(a) article
Partner Nicole Pottroff will be attending and presenting at the the ICBSSHOW in Oklahoma City so please stop by our table to say hello.
The ICBSSHOW, offers informational sessions featuring experts in government procurement, as well as one day of matchmaking to introduce you and your business to government decision makers. Also, there is access to government agency buyers and policy leaders, prime contractors, and tribal procurement representatives looking to expand their vendor pools.
The
Thanksgiving has come and gone, so that means holiday season is upon us! It was a balmy 62 degrees here in Kansas on Turkey Day, and 48 hours later we were in the middle of a blizzard. Gotta love Kansas weather!
Stuffed full of turkey and snowed in, we had some time to catch up on what’s been happening in the government contracting world. In this two-week edition of SmallGovCon, we’ll look at GSA’s proposed consolidation to its schedule contracts, a DOL hiring discrimination dispute, Amazon’s r
Many people skip the footnotes when they read. Why not? There’s rarely anything important in them, right?
Not necessarily. In recent NAICS appeal Advanced Concepts Enterprises, Inc., SBA No. NAICS-5968 (Oct. 24, 2018), a single footnote made all the difference.
In September 2018, the Missile Defense Agency issued an RFP seeking expansion of existing Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) “test assets.” The “test assets” are used “to realistically emulate/simulate the complex weapon systems
I’ve long predicted that Congress would eventually adopt a formal, Government-wide SDVOSB certification program (or “verification” program, if you prefer). Maybe my crystal ball is finally right. As my colleague Matt Schoonover wrote last week, a new bill introduced in the House of Representatives would do just that.
The full text of the bill has now been published. Here are some of the key details of the Government-wide SDVOSB certification proposal.
Government-wide SDVOSB verificati
The holiday season is upon us, time for cherished traditions. If you’re anything like us at Koprince Law, one of these traditions is reviewing the GAO’s annual bid protest report.
The overall picture I got from the report, while perhaps not the best clickbait, is that GAO bid protest figures have remained remarkably steady over the past few years. As it has been for the last few years, close to 50% of protests succeed. This stability is a story worth repeating.
The GAO Bid Protest Annual Rep
SmallGovCon readers know that the federal government currently operates two SDVOSB socio-economic designations: a VA-specific program (that requires the business to be verified by the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation), and a program through the SBA (that allows the business to self-certify).
These dual programs have been the source of confusion among SDVOSBs. Thankfully, relief might be on the way, as the House Small Business Committee has introduced legislation to consolidate SDVOSB
Happy December! If you haven’t started your holiday shopping, don’t panic, you still have time! It’s hard to believe that 2023 is almost over. I don’t know about you, but here at SmallGovCon, the year seemed to fly by.
We hope you have a nice weekend and can get out to enjoy all the holiday season has to offer.
And now, in federal government contracting news, check out some interesting articles about how the federal government is approaching the use of AI and protecting critical supply
If your small business status hangs in the balance, you can’t afford mistakes in your next SBA size determination. Join us for an in-depth look at key accounting strategies and lessons from recent SBA size appeal decisions involving affiliation issues, joint ventures, and receipts calculation. Learn how to properly account for inter-affiliate transactions, raise strong arguments, and avoid missteps that could lead to an adverse size determination. Register now to demystify SBA rules and gain the
When GAO lacks jurisdiction to hear a protest over a task or delivery order, contractors have the right to complain to an ombudsman. Implementation of the ombudsman right, however, has been haphazard at best.
Last week, the DoD, GSA, and NASA–the entities comprising the FAR Council–proposed a rule to help alleviate this issue for IDIQ contracts.
Generally, 10 U.S.C. § 2304c and 41 U.S.C. § 4106 require each head of an agency that awards MATOC or delivery order contracts to appoint “a senior ag
Big changes could be coming to the HUBZone program. On October 31, the SBA published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would bring clarity to the HUBZone regulations. Yesterday, we posted about proposed changes to the HUBZone certification, compliance, and protest processes. In this post, we wanted to bring you up to speed on some of the more substantive revisions to the way HUBZone employees are defined and counted under the proposed rule.
Continuing Eligibility of HUBZone Employees
Another
When you hear “15 days,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Perhaps, you pay your employees every 15 days. Maybe your birthday or favorite holiday happens to be in 15 days. Or if you’re like me, you might think that 15 days is two days less than Thirteen Days, a great movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Whatever your brain conjures up, don’t forget this: 15 days is the time limit to appeal an SBA size determination. Period. And nothing the contracting officer says can change it.
A re
This week, Lawrence got its first taste of cold and snow for the season. I have to say, it was not a welcomed arrival. Hopefully it’s warmer in your neck of the woods.
Let’s all warm our hearts with this week’s edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review. In today’s WIR, we’ll look at a joint VA/SBA partnership to benefit SDVOSBs, DoD’s effort to use its expanded “middle tier” contracting vehicles, and more government contractors behaving badly.
Have a great weekend!
A new partnership between th
If, like us, you spend your days reading through the FAR, you might suppose that there are opportunities to streamline the regulations. Congress agreed, at least for DOD acquisitions, and as part of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, created the Section 809 panel, an independent advisory panel on streamlining acquisition regulations. The panel is working to improve many aspects of acquisitions law, including, as we’ve written about, the definition of subcontract.
A recent, small (but
Government contractors often assume that a foreign-owned company cannot qualify as a small business under the SBA’s government contracting size rules.
Not so. As demonstrated by a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals size appeal decision, a foreign-owned entity can qualify as a small business, provided that it has a physical location in the United States and contributes to the U.S. economy.
OHA’s decision in A&Y Government Services, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-5966 (2018) involved an Army sol
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