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the SDB program is still alive and kicking, the rules will be simplified to eliminate a lot of language that is simply no longer applicable.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.

Despite Your Interest in a Protest, GAO Might Not Think You’re an “Interested Party”

Posted on May 28, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

Let’s suppose that you just received a new solicitation hot off the press. As you peruse it, you find a requirement that you believe is too onerous or unnecessary. So you contemplate filing a GAO protest to challenge that term.

Before doing so, be sure that you’re an “interested party” under GAO’s regulations. Well, I filed a protest, you say, doesn’t that make me an interested party? Short answer: no.

GAO Bid Protests: A Wrinkle In Time(liness)

Posted on May 27, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

As our regular readers know, a GAO protest challenging an agency’s evaluation decision must be filed within 10 days from the date the protester knew (or should have known) of the protest grounds, or within 10 days from the date the protester receives its debriefing (but only if the debriefing was required and timely requested). 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(2).

But sometimes, an agency might give an offeror a reason to protest before it makes its official award determination. In that case, should the offeror wait to file its protest until the agency completes its evaluation?

In some cases, no—the protest should be filed within 10 days from the date the agency makes its determination known.