$15 Minimum Wage Coming to Federal Contracting in 2022

Beginning January 30, 2022, all prime contractors and subcontractors doing work on a government contract will be required to pay workers at least $15 per hour, based on a recent executive order.

The executive order does not stop there, beginning in 2023 the wage will go up annually. When can we expect formal guidance to come out, and what other items are found in the text?

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Solicitation Omits NAICS Code and Size Standard–But Agency Still Rejects Large Business’s Bid

An offeror’s bid was rejected because the offeror wasn’t a small business–even though the solicitation didn’t contain a NAICS code or corresponding size standard.

It sounds like a successful bid protest waiting to happen, but GAO didn’t see it that way. Instead, GAO dismissed the protest because the offeror should have protested the defective solicitation terms before it submitted its bid, instead of waiting to see how the competition played out.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: May 10-14, 2021

This week on the blog we continue to bring you coverage of federal government contracting news as government agencies search for solutions to cyber security challenges and, in response, contractors enhance their own cyber defenses.

Here are a several other happenings in federal government contracting news for this week, including an announcement from Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, announcing the latest application data results for the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), passed as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Have a great weekend.

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Late Quotation? No Protest: Protester who Submitted Quotation Late is Not Interested Party, per GAO

You submit a quotation after the given solicitation deadline. The solicitation includes a provision stating, in part, that late submissions will not be considered, but the Contracting Officer (CO) evaluates your quotation anyway. The CO goes with another contractor, and you submit a protest. After all, the CO evaluated your bid, you have an interest in the matter, right?

Per the GAO, you don’t, and your protest will be dismissed. D B Systems (DBS) learned this the hard way.

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