SmallGovCon Week in Review: June 24 – 28, 2019

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Shane McCall

Lately, my kids have been asking me to “do the honors” when they ask me to do something. At first, I thought this was a cute and very polite way to ask for something. Then I realized they were going to use it for everything. Will you do the honor of getting me some water? Will you do the honor of starting a show for us? It started to get kind of old and make me feel not so honorable. But their intention was good.

So, with that inspiration, will you do the honor of reading this week’s round-up of government contracting news? Interesting stories abound, including some about new cyber security guidance, the safety records of military construction contractors, and the use of “best-in-class” contracts.

SBA’s 2018 Small Business Procurement Scorecard: Over $120 Billion Awarded to Small Businesses

Posted on June 27, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

Earning federal contracts is a powerful tool to help small companies grow their business. To help make sure that small businesses have a seat at the table, the Small Business Act sets prime contracting goals for small businesses (along with each socio-economic category). 15 U.S.C. § 644(g). And each year, the SBA issues a scorecard grading the government’s compliance with those goals.

Just a couple days ago, the SBA released its scorecard for the 2018 fiscal year. All told, the scorecard paints a rosy picture of small business contracting.

Let’s take a look.

2020 NDAA: Subcontractors May Be Allowed to Take Non-Payment Allegations to OSDBU

Posted on June 26, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

The draft 2020 National Defense Authorization Act includes a dispute process for subcontractors when the prime contractor fails to pay.

Section 831 of the draft bill would amend the Small Business Act to allow subcontractors to report nonpayment to the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

2020 NDAA: Space Activities and Space Corps

Posted on June 25, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

As you may be aware, the 2020 National Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 2500) recently made its way through the House Committee on Armed Services. With some space-centric NAICS codes, such as 517410 (Satellite Communications), seeing a 134%+ increase in small business participants in the last decade, how the U.S. approaches the final frontier should be on the mind of many small business government contractors.

It definitely was on the mind of the Committee on Armed Services.

Draft 2020 NDAA Changes Mandatory DoD Debriefings and Permanently Authorizes DoD Mentor-Protégé Program

Posted on June 24, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

On June 11, the House Armed Services Committee published its draft of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was updated June 19. Among other proposed sections impacting small business contractors which will be discussed in future blog posts, the draft reduces the monetary threshold for comprehensive Department of Defense debriefings and renews the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program.

SBA Issues Proposed Rule Implementing Small Business Runway Extension Act

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Shane McCall

On Monday, June 24, SBA will issue its long-awaited proposed rule implementing the Small Business Runway Extension Act. We intend to explore the proposed rule and the accompanying commentary more fully over the next few days (as we have been doing over the past few months), but we wanted to provide a quick update to our readers on the main changes in the proposed rule.

The key takeaway is that, once the rule is in place, SBA size standards will be based on a 5-year average. SBA “proposes to change its regulations on the calculation of annual average receipts for all receipts-based SBA size standards and other agencies’ proposed size standards for service-industry firms from a 3-year averaging period to a 5-year averaging period.”

SmallGovCon Week in Review: June 17 – 21, 2019

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Shane McCall

As government contracts attorneys, we find even the mundane aspects of federal contracting law (for example, CAGE codes) pretty interesting and important. But a recent FBI warning detailed in one of the stories from this weeks reminds us all that government contractors are crucial to the safety and well-being of the nation.

As reported in the story, the FBI has warned contractors “about foreign intelligence services using social media accounts to target and recruit employees with US government clearance.” The FBI warns that “US adversary intelligence officers are using popular US-based social media platforms to identify, recruit, and conduct operations against USG clearance holders, to include private sector employees or contractors supporting the USG.” This is a good reminder of the high stakes involved in working for the government.

Read on for this story and other interesting government contracting news, such as updates on a bill for back pay for contractors during the government shutdown, making cyber security an allowable cost, and a hack that exposed thousands of license plate numbers.