Tomorrow (or today, depending on when you are reading this), the Wall Street Journal will host a live online discussion about the impact of regulations on small business. I will be a panelist, along with SBA’s ombudsman Brian Castro and small business advocate Melinda Emerson.
The live discussion begins at 3:00 Eastern on Thursday, March 27. To join in, simply follow this link. See you there!
The SBA’s Certificate of Competency procedures cannot be used to cure a small business’s incomplete proposal.
In a recent bid protest decision, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that the procuring agency could not lawfully cure a firm’s omission of mandatory proposal information by submitting the matter to the SBA for a Certificate of Competency.
The VA is not required to prioritize SDVOSB set-asides when it obtains prosthetic appliances and related services, according to the GAO.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that a specific statutory exemption allows the VA to procure prosthetic appliances and related services in whatever manner the VA deems best, without regard to the ordinary requirement that the VA prioritize SDVOSB acquisitions.
A former Air Force official has been sentenced to probation and a fine for accepting illegal gratuities from a government contractor.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Dennis Toenjes, Sr., was sentenced to three years of probation and fines totaling $600 for accepting gratuities worth $9,382.01. The first six months of Toenjes’s probation will be served in home confinement.
On February 27, the VA CVE sent an email to companies listed in the VetBiz database, suggesting that all documentation submitted to the CVE may be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. Many SDVOSBs and VOSBs were outraged–was the VA really stating that tax returns, payroll, bank signature cards, and other closely-guarded information would be made available to the public?
Now, after push back from SDVOSBs and VOSBs, the CVE has issued a press release clarifying that some documentation submitted to the CVE may be withheld under FOIA on a “case by case basis” and that the CVE will seek to limit the exposure of proprietary and personally identifiable information.
The press release is a good start, but in the wake of its misguided email, the CVE needs to do more to assure SDVOSBs and VOSBs that their proprietary information is safe in the government’s hands.
A small business set-aside procurement did not violate the FAR’s restrictions on contract bundling, according to the GAO.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO pointed out the bundling occurs when a procurement would be unsuitable for award to small business, and held that a set-aside procurement–by its nature–is not unsuitable for small businesses.
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending the Alliance Northwest Conference in Washington State, where I gave a breakfast keynote, as well as a breakout session. My breakout presentation, “Government Contracts Legal Update 2014,” focused on legal developments of interest to small government contractors over the past several months.
A big “thank you” to the organizers and sponsors for putting together an outstanding event. And of course, extra thanks to all the government employees, large businesses, and small business owners who attended.
If you were not able to make it to Alliance Northwest, you don’t have to be left out. Just contact me and I would be happy to provide you with a copy of my breakout session presentation.