Category Archives: Statutes and Regulations

Limitations on Subcontracting Part 1: What They Are and How They Apply

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Congratulations! Your woman-owned small business (WOSB), Sun Corp, has just been awarded a contract. This particular contract was set aside for WOSBs, meaning only WOSBs may be considered for award. Small Corp is a relatively new company, and you have determined that you will need some help to successfully complete performance of the contract. As luck would have it, you are acquainted with the owner of Moon Corp, and Moon Corp is in the business of doing the exact type of work that Sun Corp needs help with. While diligently reading through the contract prior to its execution, you notice the following language:

Performance of this contract must comply with the subcontracting limitations set forth in FAR 19.505 and 13 C.F.R. § 125.6.

What do you do?

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SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program: Affiliation Still Matters

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The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program went into effect March 27, 2020.  At that time many business owners faced confusion in trying to navigate the affiliation rules to determine their company’s eligibility for the program. Fast forward nearly two years and many businesses that received Paycheck Protection Loans have submitted applications for forgiveness of those loans. Some of those businesses are now having to consider potential affiliation issues that they may have initially overlooked in response to inquiries from SBA in its review of their loan forgiveness application.

We thought this would be a good time to revisit the basics of SBA’s affiliation rules for the Paycheck Protection Program.

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SBA Proposes to Eliminate Some Nonmanufacturer Rule Class Waivers

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SBA is currently considering terminating some class waivers for its small business Nonmanufacturer Rule, as it has received information to established the existence of small business manufacturers of
the subject products.

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House Passes Senate Bill to Modernize Processes to Increase Small Business Participation in Federal Contracting

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The House recently passed Senate Bill 583, titled the “Promoting Rigorous and Innovative Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions (PRICE) Act.” The Price Act would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report projects from its Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) that have used innovative techniques to help modernize contracting procedures. The bill would also require the DHS to offer training to its personnel on how to use these techniques. In addition, the PRICE Act would require that these innovative best practices be made available to other federal agencies to improve procurement methods and training. The Price Act also supports the White House’s goals of providing new federal contracting opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses.

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What’s on SBA’s Regulatory Plate for 2022? A Hint: Increased Size Standards

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SBA publishes its semiannual Regulatory Agenda to provide an update on the various rules it has in the pipeline and an estimate for when they will be published or become final. While SBA doesn’t have to meet these timeframes, it’s always good to check in on what SBA has been working on when the final rules will come out. This agenda includes an update on increased size standards, along with some other important rules. Read on for the highlights and be sure to comment on any rules that you have an opinion on.

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FAR Council Seeks to Address Climate Change in Federal Contracting

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In response to an Executive Order, the FAR Council has recently proposed to amend the FAR in an effort to ensure that major federal procurements will minimize the risk of climate change. And DoD, GSA, and NASA sought the public’s input on the issue. Let’s take a closer look.

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IHS Issues Final Rules Implementing the Buy Indian Act

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On January 13, 2022 the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its Final Rule governing the implementation of the Buy Indian Act (Act). This rule clarifies the preference for Indian-owned and controlled businesses and removes barriers by alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens. If you’re a frequent visitor to our blogs, you may be thinking, “wait what, didn’t you just blog about this last November?” Actually, the subject of the blog about the Buy Indian Act from November was the proposed rules governing the Buy Indian Act issued by the Department of Interior (DOI) covering procurements of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). HHS’s Final Rules issued on January 13th  (Final Rule) supplement and amend regulations guiding implementation of the Buy Indian Act for procurements by the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Given the long scattershot implementation of the  Buy Indian Act, how the Act it is applied to different agencies, the multiple notices of proposed changes to the Buy Indian Act, along with the general decentralized structure of procurement regulations, it can all be a bit confusing. A bit of background may help to put it all in context.

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