Winter refuses to end here in Lawrence, Kansas as snow is in the forecast tonight. But before we settle in for a cold weekend, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week in Review.
In this week’s edition, how the DoD will collect data to help reduce time for awards, two construction companies have agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve whistleblower claims related to set-aside contracts, the GSA and OMB move forward with the e-commerce initiative established in the 2018 NDAA and much more.
The DoD has issued a class deviation to immediately implement part of the the enhanced debriefing requirements mandated by the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
In a class deviation issued on March 22, 2018, the DoD says that, effective immediately, contracting officers must comply with new requirements allowing unsuccessful offerors to submit questions–and postponing the ticking of the “protest clock” until after answers are received. But the class deviation doesn’t fully implement the 2018 NDAA’s enhanced debriefing requirements; the portion of the statute calling for the disclosure of redacted source selection information is not addressed.
The SBA will begin hearing protests and appeals related to inclusion in the VA’s SDVOSB/VOSB CVE database on October 1, 2018.
On March 30, the SBA published a final rule, which responded to public comments made on the proposed rule issued last year. SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals will begin deciding these cases in the fall.
It’s moving day at Koprince Law LLC. We are in the midst of moving into our new digs at 901 Kentucky Street, Suite 301 here in Lawrence. Our new office has a lot more space to support our growing firm, and is just a two-block walk to Chipotle. I call that a win-win.
While we get the new space ready for Monday morning, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week in Review. In this week’s edition, the GSA’s Inspector General is investigating fraudulent activity on SAM, Bloomberg Government expects the number of mergers and acquisitions in the federal contracting market to decrease in 2018, a mother and daughter plead guilty to bribing employees of the Picatinny Arsenal military base for 12 years with luxury items valued at $250,000, and much more.
HUBZone companies owned by U.S. citizens will no longer be required to demonstrate that the ownership is “direct.”
The SBA’s HUBZone program rules have long required that a HUBZone company owned by U.S. citizens be at least 51% directly owned by those citizens–as opposed to allowing the qualifying citizens to own those interests through legal vehicles like holding companies. But the SBA has had second thoughts, and effective May 25, 2018, the direct ownership requirement will be eliminated.
The DoD has issued a final rule making major changes in the DoD “Pilot” Mentor-Protege Program. The rule took effect on March 23, 2018.
Among the major changes, DoD has both expanded and contracted the universe of potential proteges–and has included a mandatory certification that seems to completely misunderstand the SBA’s joint venture rules and processes.
Here is my take on the good, the bad, and the ugly from the final rule.
What a week of college basketball! I don’t think anyone could have predicted a world in which UMBC knocked out Virginia and Loyola-Chicago is knocking on the door of the Final Four, but that’s where we are. Tonight, both of my teams–Duke and KU–are playing, so I’ll be spending my Friday evening watching some hoops.
But before March Madness kicks off, it’s time for the SmallGovCon Week in Review. In this week’s edition, the GSA and OMB are seeking legislative fixes as they move forward with the “Amazon Amendment,” protests against the major ENCORE III contract have been denied, a contractor admits to a bribery and gratuity scheme, and much more.