The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in essence Congress’ annual budget for the Department of Defense (DoD), commonly includes various riders and attachments that amend or create other federal laws. For example, the 2022 NDAA (finally) gave SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals the authority to hear appeals of HUBZone protests (something SBA just recently proposed a rule regarding), and the 2021 NDAA is why SDVOSB self-certification is ending and SBA is taking over the job of carrying out certifications from the VA (SDVOSB contractors, SBA will start accepting applications on January 9, 2023, as we discuss here.) The 2023 NDAA is no exception, and as it is currently proposed, the DoD would get a lot more discretion to help out its contractors in light of inflation.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 12-16, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you have had a great week and are excited about the holiday season. There’s only one more weekend to get that shopping done! No matter how prepared I think I am, it seems there is always something that sneaks up at the last minute. We do hope you find time to sit and relax a bit this weekend and we’ve included some articles about federal government contracting that we believe are worth a read, including updates on the government shutdown and NDAA. Enjoy!
Continue reading…Breaking: SBA Proposed Rule Gives OHA Jurisdiction over HUBZone Status Protests
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed to amend the rules of practice for its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program to “implement procedures authorizing appeals to OHA” from adverse status determination protests for certified HUBZone small business concerns. Currently, HUBZone status protest determinations are decided by the Associate Administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development per 13 C.F.R. § 126.805. But those appeals, in our experience, are fairly limited and SBA does not publish the appeal decisions, meaning they provide little help for companies and attorneys wishing to understand how SBA interprets its HUBZone This is a big step for SBA and will certainly bring consistency and insights to the protest process and regulatory interpretation for HUBZone participants, bringing that program more in line with other SBA programs.
Goodbye PTAC, Hello APEX Accelerators
The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday, December 2, 2022, in a bid to strengthen and expand small business development nationally. The most obvious immediate change is that the more than 90 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) will be renamed APEX Accelerators, and the DOD and SBA are hopeful that this rebranding will bring new life to the program, which provides free procurement assistance to small businesses that work with all levels of the government, whether federal, state, or local.
Continue reading…Webinar Event: December 15, 2022 at 2:00pm MST: The Do’s & Don’ts of Federal Contracting
Federal contracting rules and laws are complicated, and the rules aren’t always intuitive. Many contractors make legal mistakes routinely, involving everything from completing SAM profiles to calculating small business size to communicating with government contracting officers.
I invite you to join Greg Weber and myself as we discuss the Top 21 Most Common Legal Mistakes that contractors make time and time again hosted by the El Paso Chamber of Commerce. You will learn what these common mistakes are and how to avoid them. Hope to see you there! Click here to register.
SmallGovCon Week in Review: December 5-9, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers. We hope you have a great week and are finishing the year strong. There were several announcements in federal government contracting this week. The SBA issued a statement regarding the recent announcement by the Department of Defense (DoD) on the creation of the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) as well as releasing a statement on the Coronavirus Crisis Report Concerning Fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program. Please read more on those announcements below and other federal government happenings. Have a great weekend!
Continue reading…Agencies Do Not Have Unlimited Discretion to Cancel Solicitations, Says the COFC
In its recent decision, the Court of Federal Claims decided whether and when an agency can cancel a FAR part 15 procurement and start from scratch. Agencies have historically been afforded extremely broad discretion in cancelling solicitations. But in this case, the court agreed with the protester that cancellation was wrongful. It also laid out the details of a proper versus improper solicitation cancellation quite nicely. Thus, this landmark decision provides crucial guidance on the subject for agencies and federal contractors alike.
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