SmallGovCon Week In Review: February 3 – February 7, 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Shane McCall

This past week, the whole Kansas City region (including our office) as well as much of the nation, celebrated the Chiefs victory in the Super Bowl. It was a long time coming for the Chiefs, but a well-deserved win.

While perhaps not as exciting as the Super Bowl, this week also saw some intriguing federal contracting stories. Among them, new details on DOD cybersecurity initiatives, continuing GSA schedule consolidation, and the Army and Navy work on a modern contract writing system.

Protester Argues the Agency Played “The Price Is Right” During Discussions

Posted on February 6, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

Negotiating with the federal government regarding pricing can sometimes feel like trying to win an RV from Bob Barker. Such was the experience of one protester. The government recommended a price increase during discussions and the contractor raised its price. The price increase, however, ultimately cost the offeror the award.

The agency’s conduct was subsequently protested before GAO, but GAO was not receptive.

Federal Supply Schedule Acquisitions Require Price Comparisons to Determine Lowest Overall Cost, Says GAO

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Nicole Pottroff

In a recent protest, GAO examined the rules for price evaluation and source selection methodology required under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Program. At a minimum, an agency must perform price comparisons to evaluate what vendor will be lowest cost along with any additional features and benefits to the government. Because the FSS solicitation at issue failed to include proper price evaluation terms, GAO sustained a challenge to those terms.

DOD Cybersecurity Certification Standards Are Official

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Shane McCall

Well, if you’d been waiting for DOD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standards to stop being “draft” before you took a look at them, the wait is over! Version 1.0 (no longer marked draft) was released last week. DoD has indicated it will begin using CMMC requirements in requests for information starting June 2020.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the recent release.

In the Market for Freeze-Dried Ice Cream? SBA’s Proposed Rule on Surplus Property May Be For You!

Posted on February 3, 2020 by SmallGovConContributor

This month, the SBA proposed a new rule to expand access to Federal surplus personal property for veteran-owned small businesses, 8(a) Program Participants, and more.

GAO: If You Weren’t Prejudiced, We Won’t Sustain Your Protest

Posted on January 31, 2020 by SmallGovCon Contributor

Much like schoolyard basketball, bid protests feature a “no harm, no foul” rule: unless an offeror can credibly allege that it was prejudiced by a flawed evaluation, GAO won’t sustain a protest.

Establishing prejudice can be tricky, depending on the type of evaluation at issue. Under a lowest-price technically acceptable award, a protester generally must show that it was next-in-line for the award (that is, it was technically acceptable and had the next-lowest price, after the awardee). Best value awards, on the other hand, are a bit more flexible: usually, the protester must establish that the evaluation flaw adversely affected its competitive standing.

A recent GAO decision, however, highlights that these two means of establishing prejudice aren’t always distinct.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: January 27 – January 31, 2020

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Shane McCall

There is one thing (other than legal issues) on the mind of many of us at Koprince Law this week–the Super Bowl! The Chiefs return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970. Hope it’s a good game and those supporting KC will have the right to party!

But I’ve got at least one part of my mind on federal contracting updates, including multiple items about the new CMMC cybersecurity rules, the aftermath of the most recent government shutdown, a group of sham companies sold the US Navy $2.7 million worth of nothing and as always, contractors behaving badly.