The Department of Defense’s micro-purchase threshold will double, from $5,000 to $10,000, under the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
The increase in the DoD micro-purchase threshold will put the DoD on par with civilian agencies after Congress increased the civilian micro-purchase threshold to $10,000 in last year’s NDAA.
We’re halfway through the government’s fourth quarter, and experienced contractors know what that means–lots of awards on the horizon.
According to a fascinating new analysis from USASpending.gov, the fourth quarter spike in contract awards is quite real, and quite significant: the value of average weekly contract spending in the final week of the fiscal year is more than double that of the next-highest weekly average.
GAO has the authority to oversee bid protests involving many different government agencies. But its jurisdiction has limits, such as that it won’t consider protests of certain activities at the U.S. Mint.
One other limitation is that, when a federal agency provides funding to a non-federal entity and that non-federal entity procures services through competitive award, GAO will not consider a protest of that award. A recent GAO decision confirmed the lack of jurisdiction in a situation involving a competitive procurement by a federally recognized tribe using FEMA grant money.
Despite a longstanding and very common misconception, the VA’s SDVOSB verification requirement doesn’t apply to non-VA SDVOSB contracts.
As the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals recently reiterated, it was “simply not correct” to believe that a company was required to be verified in VetBiz to be awarded a non-VA SDVOSB contract.
Happy Friday, everybody! It’s that time of year: federal contractors are rushing to submit bids, with the hope of awards before the end of the fiscal year. So we hope that you’re all gearing up for a relaxing weekend.
Let’s get the weekend started off right with the SmallGovCon Week in Review. This week’s edition discusses the rush of contract awards at the end of the fiscal year, DOL’s renewed focus on disability hiring practices, federal contractors behaving badly, and more.
Have a great weekend!
I am back in the Midwest after a great trip to San Diego for the 2018 Department of the Navy Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event. I was part of a PTAC-sponsored legal panel on small business issues, and enjoyed speaking with contractors, government representatives, and others on the trade show floor.
Thank you very much to the San Diego chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association for sponsoring this fantastic event and inviting me to speak. And a big thank you to the many contractors who attended the session and asked great questions.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of attending Gold Coast, I strongly encourage you to put it on your radar screen for 2019. It’s hard to beat a great conference in a great city. As for me, I’ll be hitting the road again soon: I will be in Norman, Oklahoma on August 21 and 22 for the annual Indian Country Business Summit. Hope to see you there!
One of the first things a prospective government contractor (including a joint venture) must do to be eligible for an award is to create a business profile in the System for Award Management (or “SAM”). Before making an award, in fact, the contracting officer is obligated to verify the prospective contractor is registered in SAM.
Not only must a business be registered in SAM, but its registration should be up-to-date. It’s an enduring myth of government contracting that a business’s SAM profile only has to be updated annually. But as FAR 4.1201(b)(1) instructs, an offeror’s SAM profile has to be updated as necessary to ensure that it is “kept current, accurate, and complete.”
What happens if a prospective awardee fails to update its SAM profile? Can a disappointed bidder challenge the basis of the award? The answer, according to GAO, is “it depends.”