New Background Check Agency Will Affect Contractors

Contractors often complaint that the background check process is slow, while contractors and their employee alike worry about information security in the wake of a sensitive OPM data breach that leaked the personal information of millions of government workers and contractors. Now, a change to the background check process is coming.

The White House announced last week that a new government agency would be taking charge of conducting background checks on all federal employees, Armed Services members, and civilian contractors. The government hopes the change will speed up background checks on contractors, many of whom have to wait months before a background check is completed, while also maintaining security over personal information. Of course, as with any government roll-out of a new initiative, it remains to be seen whether the new agency will live up to expectations.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: January 25-28, 2016

It is hard to believe that Tuesday is Groundhog Day already. As we all wait in anticipation for him to emerge from his burrow, and hopefully not see his shadow, we offer you some reading material to help make your wait more enjoyable.

This final January 2016 edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review brings you a look at the Lockheed Martin/Leidos merger, a cautionary tale about the dangers of violating federal prevailing wage laws, new principles behind the VA’s procurement strategies, and much more.

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Buy Indian Act: New Policy Memo Aims To Increase Set-Asides

Buy Indian Act set-asides might increase following the Department of the Interior’s recent release of a Buy Indian Act National Policy Memorandum.

In the January 2016 Memorandum, the DOI establishes a policy of maximizing the use of the Buy Indian Act and increasing the number of Buy Indian Act set-asides.  The Buy Indian Act Memorandum comes in the wake of a GAO Report issued last summer, which criticized the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service for their implementation of the Buy Indian Act.

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GAO: Agency Reasonably Adjusted Sub’s Unsubstantiated Costs

Under a solicitation for a cost-reimbursable contract, an offeror’s proposed costs are not controlling, because the government is on the hook for the contractor’s actual and allowable incurred costs. Before making an award decision, the government must consider whether the proposed costs should be upwardly adjusted.

A recent GAO bid protest decision highlights the need for offerors bidding on cost-reimbursable work to make sure that their proposed costs are realistic and substantiated—including the proposed costs of major subcontractors.

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Tick-Tock: NAICS Code Appeal Clock Keeps Running During Discussions

A NAICS code appeal ordinarily must be filed within ten days of the issuance of a solicitation–and a prospective offeror’s discussions with the Contracting Officer do not extend the deadline.

In a recent NAICS code appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals confirmed that the ten-day clock keeps moving even while a prospective offeror is working behind the scenes in an effort to convince the procuring agency to change the NAICS code.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: January 18-22, 2016

Hopefully those of you on the East Coast are hunkered down and ready for the historic snow storm headed your way.  And since many of our readers may be having a lot of unplanned time at home this weekend, we have the perfect idea to prevent boredom: catching up on the latest and greatest in government contracts news.

In this week’s edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, a major investigation of the AbilityOne program is underway, Guy Timberlake offers some common sense advice on multiple-award contracts, and much more.

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SBA OHA: Shared Ownership In Eight Companies Caused Affiliation

Individuals who had common investments in eight different companies were treated as a single person for purposes of the SBA’s affiliation rules–and the aggregation of those owners’ interests cost one company a small business set-aside award.

In a recent decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals explained how the little-understood common investments affiliation rule works, and in so doing, provided an important warning to business owners who may not realize that affiliation can result from common investments in multiple entities.

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