SmallGovCon Week In Review: August 29-September 2, 2016

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We have been hard a work all week long here at Koprince Law and are ready to take advantage of the Labor Day weekend. Not only is it a long weekend, but it is also the start of the college football season. There is nothing better than football, tailgating and cooler weather to get you in the mood for fall (although our local Kansas Jayhawks haven’t exactly been tearing up the gridiron in recent years).

Before you head out the door to enjoy the holiday weekend, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week In Review. This week’s edition includes articles on the recent implementation of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule, a look at the large amount of money spent of professional services and how that spending is (or isn’t) tracked, a proposed rule for streamlining awards for innovative technology projects and much more.

  • Business in government-wide acquisition contracts is booming, with agency buyers turning to the large-scale vehicles for price breaks and convenience. [Washington Technology]
  • Bloomberg BNA has an interesting Q&A session involving the recently released Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces regulations. [Bloomberg BNA]
  • According to one commentator, government contracting is being hurt by the lack of transparency and secrecy with the amount of money flowing through all the contract vehicles across government. [Washington Technology]
  • The Obama administration has finalized plans to bring more scrutiny to potential federal contractors’ histories of violating labor laws, releasing twin final regulations that will implement a 2014 executive order. [Government Executive]
  • A government contractor is required to pay $142,500 to settle civil fraud allegations that their employees engaged in labor mischarging. [Department of Justice]
  • Agencies spend almost $63 billion a year on professional services and there is a new plan to help the government improve how it buys and manages these contracts. [Federal News Radio]
  • A proposed rule has been issued to amend the DFARS to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 that provides exceptions from the certified cost and pricing data requirements and from the records examination requirement for certain awards to small businesses or nontraditional defense contractors. [Federal Register]