The House-passed version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act would make some significant changes for the HUBZone program. Among them are the ability to have HUBZone appeals heard by administrative judges. Below is a summary of the key changes The House version of the 2022 NDAA includes some amendments that could come about if they are all included in the final law.
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Contractor Vaccine Mandate: What About Work-From-Home Employees?
My colleagues and I here at Koprince McCall Pottroff have been hearing lots of questions about the new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for certain employees of federal government contractors. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the pandemic-related rise in remote work, one of the most common questions is “are work-from-home employees required to be vaccinated?”
The answer, it turns out, is “it depends.”
Continue readingHouse-Passed 2022 NDAA Raises Sole Source Thresholds for 8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone, and WOSB/EDWOSB Contracts
The sole source thresholds for the major socioeconomic preference programs would increase significantly under the House-passed version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
The House version of the 2022 NDAA includes an amendment that would raise the sole source caps for contracts awarded to qualified 8(a) Program participants, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone Program participants, and woman-owned small businesses (as well as the economically disadvantaged subcagetory of WOSBs).
Continue readingPolaris GWAC: GSA Issues Draft RFP Sections
GSA has been hard at work on the Polaris solicitation. The goal: provide federal agencies with information technology services from qualified small businesses. GSA recently released the updated draft versions of the submission instructions and evaluation criteria for Polaris. Like CIO-SP4, which we blogged on in detail, Polaris is going to be of interest to many small business IT contractors. So, here are a few highlights from the draft sections.
Continue readingDOD Construction: House-Passed 2022 NDAA Establishes Preferences for Local Contractors
Local construction contractors would receive new contracting preferences for Department of Defense contracts under the version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House of Representatives on September 23.
During floor debate on the 2022 NDAA, the House agreed to an amendment proposed by representative Andy Kim. The amendment requires, to the extent practicable, that DOD give a preference to construction contractors who hire local employees. The amendment also requires all contractors and subcontractors for military construction projects to be licensed in the state where the work is to be performed.
Continue readingHouse-Passed 2022 NDAA Raises Small Business Goal to 25% and Increases SDVOSB, HUBZone, SDB and WOSB Goals
The version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House of Representatives on September 23 would increase the government’s small business prime contracting goal from 23% to 25%.
The House-passed version of the 2022 NDAA would also increase the prime contracting goals for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned small businesses.
Continue readingVA Contracting Officers May Now Use Veteran Employment Preferences in Competitive Acquisitions
Newcomers to the federal marketplace are often surprised when they learn that eligibility for the VA’s SDVOSB and VOSB preference programs are based on the status of the contractor’s owners–and have nothing to do with how many veterans the contractor employs.
While the SDVOSB/VOSB eligibility rules aren’t changing, VA Contracting Officers now have authority to give preference to offerors that employ veterans on a full-time basis. A new VA Acquisition Policy Flash provides guidance to VA Contracting Officers on implementing 38 U.S.C. 8129, a statute that took effect in January 2021 and provided Congressional authority for offering such a preference.
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