The Runway Extension Act has been a hot topic for federal government contractors. And as of this writing, the issue of the Act’s effectiveness hasn’t been conclusively decided—though SBA says the Act isn’t yet effective, others (including us, in various posts on this blog) have disagreed with this analysis.
A recent GAO decision decided a protest based on the Runway Extension Act.
Continue reading…You can access the internet from your couch, the skies above, and even from space. This means that you can also access your emails from each of these locations. I am sure that some of you have received emails from GAO, an agency, or a contracting officer on your phone in the last month. You may even be reading this blog while on the go. In our ever-connected world, is it possible to establish “regular business hours” and truly disconnect when it comes to emails?
As it turns out, GAO says you can.
Continue reading…The protester in a recent mattress procurement case won’t sleep easy after GAO’s decision. In Warrior Service Company, B-417612 (Aug.16, 2019), GAO reminded protesters that one week can be a reasonable amount of time to allow bids.
Continue reading…It’s Friday, and that means its time for another round of SmallGovCon updates as you ease on into your weekend. Hope everyone has a great one and enjoys these last few weekends of summer!
Read on for some important updates from the government contracting world, including an amended solicitation for the Alliant 2 Small Business IT contract, discussions about how best to put data in the cloud, and satisfactory CPARS ratings.
Continue reading…The Court of Federal Claims recently wrote that “[t]here is no such thing as a perfect procurement.” To anyone familiar with federal government contracts, this commentary states the obvious.
But springing from the Court’s observation is another important reality: “a flawed procurement is not necessarily an illegal one.”
Continue reading…As we wrote about, the Section 809 Panel had recommended that Congress eliminate most small business set-asides for DoD acquisitions. The Panel suggested replacing small business set-asides with a five percent small business price preference.
It looks like Congress heard our concerns—and those voiced throughout industry—and will reject this suggestion.
Continue reading…Agencies and contractors must do their math right (even fractions) when evaluating proposals against solicitation terms, and GAO will call them on it if they don’t.
GAO recently sustained a protest where an agency improperly calculated a small business subcontracting percentage by including the prime contractor’s fee as part of the subcontracted costs when the fee shouldn’t have been included.
Continue reading…