A procuring agency is not required to re-open discussions to address a weakness first presented in an offeror’s revised proposal.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that an offeror was not entitled to an additional round of discussions when an agency assigned the offeror a significant weakness for an item first included in the offeror’s revised proposal.
The owner of a former 8(a) program participant has been sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with an 8(a) program “pass-through” scheme.
Under the plea agreement, the former 8(a) program owner also agreed to three years of supervised release and the forfeiture of $554,541.07.
With July almost over, we are looking forward to the remainder of the summer. But even in the hottest weather, government contracting news never stops. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a new study pushes back at “bid protest hysteria,” Guy Timberlake continues his important discussion of federal agency classifications, CNN investigates alleged corruption in the AbilityOne program, and more.
A Maryland couple has pleaded guilty to defrauding the government in connection with more than $30 million in set-aside contracts.
And, apparently not content with “mere” procurement fraud, the couple has also entered guilty pleas to charges of fraud under the Service Contract Act and tax evasion.
When conducting market research to determine whether a small business set-aside is appropriate under the “rule of two,” a procuring agency must do more than determine whether multiple small businesses are likely to submit proposals–it must also make reasonable efforts to ascertain whether those small businesses are capable of performing the work.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that an agency had improperly issued a solicitation as a small business set-aside because the agency’s market research did not reasonably consider whether the identified small businesses were capable of performing the contract requirements.
When a procurement agency opens discussions with one offeror, it must open discussions with all offerors within the competitive range.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that a procuring agency conducted improper discussions when it limited discussions to only one offeror.
I was on the road during the latter half of last week–first a stop in Columbia, Missouri for a workshop with the Missouri PTAC, and then on to the greater Chicago area, where I gave a presentation at a procurement conference. My travels prevented me from getting SmallGovCon Week In Review posted on its usual Friday date, so here is a special Monday morning edition of government contracting news and commentary.