Buy Indian Act: 105 Years (And Counting) Of Frustration

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Steven Koprince

In 1910, William Howard Taft lived in the White House, the Chicago Cubs were just two years removed from back-to-back World Series titles, and Arizona had yet to be admitted to the Union. That summer, Congress passed the Buy Indian Act, a statute authorizing a special federal contracting program for Indian-owned businesses.

Since then, it has been mostly downhill. It took the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 103 years to issue regulations implementing the Act’s contracting preferences. Now that the regulations are finally in place, the Buy Indian Act program is suffering from lack of effective oversight and implementation. In fact, a recent GAO report found that the BIA and the Indian Health Service could not even clearly articulate whether Buy Indian Act set-aside contracts take priority over other set-asides.

If the Buy Indian Act is ever to live up to its potential, significant changes are needed.

Preaward Notice Did Not Affect Timeliness Of Price Realism Protest

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Steven Koprince

An agency’s preaward notice did not start the “clock ticking” for an unsuccessful competitor’s subsequent GAO bid protest.

In a recent decision, the GAO held that the protesters were not required to file their GAO bid protests within 10 days of receiving the agency’s preaward notice because the protests were based on an allegation that the agency had failed to conduct a price realism evaluation–and the protesters were not made aware of the awardee’s price in the preaward notice.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: August 3-7, 2015

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Steven Koprince

Our first SmallGovCon Week In Review of August is jam-packed with great articles to keep you informed on the latest and greatest (or maybe not-so-greatest) in government contracting. This month features stories on the OPM hack, the soaring popularity of reverse auctions, how procurement reform is shifting, a new executive order and a new rule that may be detrimental to contractors.

GAO: No Protests Of “Insufficiently Restrictive” Solicitations

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Steven Koprince

The GAO generally will not consider a protest contending that a solicitation’s specifications should be made more restrictive.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO declined to consider a protester’s contention that the solicitation should require offerors to demonstrate specific experience in the type of work to be performed.

Agency Not Required To Re-Open Discussions To Address New Weakness

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Steven Koprince

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.

8(a) Fraud: 21-Month Prison Sentence In Pass-Through Case

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Steven Koprince

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.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: July 27-31, 2015

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Steven Koprince

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.