Last month, the Department of Defense (DoD), released a memorandum to its contracting specialists asking them to utilize the popular but controversial category management tactics to attempt to increase small business participation in DoD procurements. Some have said that category management tends to decrease small business spend by, for instance, pushing procurement to larger contracting vehicles, so this memo attempts to turn conventional wisdom on its head. The DoD’s intentions with this memorandum will likely increase use of category management at the largest governmental buyers, despite this contracting trend being criticized as ineffective or counter productive to increasing small business participation. Below we dig into what the memo says.
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Proposed FAR Regulation Turns up the Heat on Federal Contractor Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting
In an effort to comply with Executive Orders issued by the President, and to lower greenhouse gas effects, the Department of Defense, NASA, and GSA have recently issued a proposed rule that would change the FAR to create further requirements for contractors to report and disclose greenhouse gas emissions, as well as create emission targets. This proposed rule will add various requirements to the FAR that create additional reporting for contractors based on their size. Contractors should review these potential changes carefully, provide comments, and begin preparing for compliance with the new requirements. Below is our summary of the key changes.
Continue readingFAR Proposed Rule: Incumbent Service Workers Need to be Hired
Once again, the incumbent service worker rule has had its pendulum swing back to the hiring of incumbent workers, reflecting a “general policy of the Federal Government that service contracts which succeed contracts for the same or similar services, and solicitations for such contracts, shall include a non-displacement clause.” This proposed rule would insert a contract clause requiring contractors who are awarded a service contract with an incumbent on it, to offer employment to the incumbent contractor employees, for performance of the contract. This is of course quite the shift from current regulations, but it also places many new contract compliance requirements on contractors awarded a new contract as they try and stand up performance.
Continue readingFAR Council Seeks to Address Climate Change in Federal Contracting
In response to an Executive Order, the FAR Council has recently proposed to amend the FAR in an effort to ensure that major federal procurements will minimize the risk of climate change. And DoD, GSA, and NASA sought the public’s input on the issue. Let’s take a closer look.
Continue reading$15 Minimum Wage Coming to Federal Contracting in 2022
Beginning January 30, 2022, all prime contractors and subcontractors doing work on a government contract will be required to pay workers at least $15 per hour, based on a recent executive order.
The executive order does not stop there, beginning in 2023 the wage will go up annually. When can we expect formal guidance to come out, and what other items are found in the text?
Continue readingBuy American Act Executive Order Promises Much, Will it Deliver?
The White House has released the final language of the Buy America Act. Our recent post looked forward to what we could expect from the final rule. Now the rule has been released, so what is in it?
The executive order promises quite a bit, and a lot of what is promised we will likely not see until 6 to 12 months down the road.
Here is what to expect now, in 6 months, and then down the road.
Continue readingFive Things to Look for in Executive Order Strengthening Buy American Act
As we have blogged about previously, the Buy American Act has a number of exceptions and waivers. The United States spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year in contracting alone. The Buy American Act is intended to keep federal dollars in the hands of American companies and manufacturers. The president’s new executive order on these issues, proposes making some significant changes to not only the rule, but to oversight.
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