Congress Changes the Rules on PPP Loan Forgiveness, but Questions Remain

Posted on June 10, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

Newly passed changes to the Paycheck Protection Program are designed to make it easier for small businesses to have their loans forgiven.

The Paycheck Protection Program has been around since the end of March and provides funds for small businesses to retain employees and keep operating during the global coronavirus pandemic. If used properly, the business should have all or a portion of the loan forgiven. The new law eases some of the restrictions on how that money can be spent.

Required Disclosures to the Government did not Waive Attorney Client Privilege, 4th Circuit Finds

Posted on June 8, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

Attorney-client privilege is a cornerstone of the American legal system. It protects conversations between an attorney and their client from disclosure during litigation. The goal of this protection is to allow an attorney to provide the best representation possible by protecting client communications from being later leveraged during litigation. Sometimes, however, invocation of attorney-client privilege protections can be complicated by required disclosures.

But federal contractors are required to notify the government about various circumstances that may impact their role as contractors. What if there is a conflict between mandatory government disclosures and attorney-client privilege? In a recent decision, the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to determine whether certain mandatory disclosures under the FAR waived attorney client privilege.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: June 1 – June 5, 2020

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Shane McCall

Hope everyone is having a nice Friday.

This week saw some intriguing updates in the government contracting world. For one, GAO released its snapshot on government spending for fiscal year 2019, revealing that discretionary government spending increased about $20 billion versus 2018, going to $586 billion. Otherwise, trends for 2019 were similar to 2018. DOD spending was about 65% of the total, while services across all agencies made up about 60% of spending. More insights are included in the article listed below.

In other news, the CMMC accreditation body will soon release assessor training requirements, SBA has an online MBA program for veteran small business owners, and Oklahoma contractors will pay a $2.8 million settlement for False Claims allegations involving fraudulent small business set-aside contracts.

The FAR’s Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Clause is Finally Getting the Boot

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Nicole Pottroff

Federal agencies will be issuing a final rule that will remove the infamous nondisplacement of qualified workers clause from the FAR. The final rule goes into effect June 5, 2020. Let’s take a look.

CMMC Update: Details on Certification Infrastructure and COTS Products

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Shane McCall

The framework for the DOD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) process continues to move forward. Here’s an update on what’s currently happening with the CMMC that includes a few more details the DOD and the independent CMMC Accreditation Body have recently released about the nuts and bolts of the certification process.

Regulatory Update: SBA Moves to Clean Up Small Disadvantaged Business Rules

Posted on June 1, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

Last month, the SBA moved to edit its regulations, taking a red pen to its current rules governing Small Disadvantaged Businesses (or SDBs), as described in the Federal Register.

This post will highlight what the new rule will mean for current SDBs—and how businesses can become eligible for SDB subcontractor status under the new rule. While the SDB program is still alive and kicking, the rules will be simplified to eliminate a lot of language that is simply no longer applicable.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: May 25 – May 29, 2020

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Shane McCall

As we end May and roll into June, rainy weather has descended on the Midwest. But there’s always sunshine around the corner. In our case, around the corner will be this weekend as the Kansas City region is scheduled to have sunny skies.

This week saw plenty of interesting stories in the federal contracting world, including a false claims settlement related to misrepresenting use of a small disadvantaged business, a new Department of Labor office aims to help federal contractors comply with rules, and the federal government moving to virtual sales meetings.