Tag Archives: GSA

SmallGovCon Week in Review: November 18-22, 2024

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Happy Friday, SmallGovCon readers and have a great Thanksgiving next week! We won’t be posting our weekly roundup next week due to the holiday, but we’ll catch up on any missed news the following week.

In the meantime, enjoy this week’s federal contracting news. Also be sure to enjoy the family, friends, and food at your Thanksgiving table and maybe catch a football game. We will be back, with another edition of the week in review, in December. Some of the key stories this week including an update on small business past performance evaluation for affiliates, and updates on GAO bid protest stats.

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Agency Discretion Recertified: GAO Affirms Agency Discretion to Request Size Recertification for Task Orders

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When it comes to meeting the size standards, the normal rule for a set-aside contract is simple: If you’re small at the time you submitted your initial offer for the contract, you’re small for the life of the contract. So says 13 C.F.R. § 121.404–although this could be changing in the future based on a proposed SBA rule. Furthermore, this is the general rule with set-aside IDIQs as well: If you’re small at the time of initial offer for the IDIQ, you’re small for all orders under that IDIQ. (Not so with set-aside task orders under otherwise unrestricted IDIQs, there it very much is time of offer for the task order rather than the IDIQ for the date to determine size). However, there are a couple of exceptions. The biggest one is where the contracting officer explicitly requests size recertification for the given task order. In that case, an offeror must show it is still a small business as of when it submits its offer for that task order. One contractor recently protested when the contracting officer did just that. Here, we’ll explore that GAO decision.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 19-23, 2024

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Hello and happy Friday! Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, the kids have started school and the college students are busy moving in and preparing to start classes. It always feels like such a big shift in the energy with all the excitement and the many back to school events taking place.

This week in federal government contracting, the recent headlines highlight a wide array of developments within federal operations, emphasizing both accountability and innovation. You can read more about this week’s news in the articles below. Enjoy your weekend!

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 12-16, 2024

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Happy Friday, blog readers, and welcome to the week in review. Recent legislative and agency initiatives are shaping the landscape for federal contracting, cybersecurity, and support for veterans and small businesses, this week. A bipartisan Senate bill seeks to mandate cybersecurity vulnerability disclosures by contractors, enhancing national security. In parallel, the Pentagon’s release of key Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) contracting rules aims to fortify the defense supply chain against cyber threats.

On the small business front, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are collaborating to promote veteran entrepreneurship, while various committees and task forces are actively addressing regulatory fairness and development support for veteran-owned businesses. These efforts, coupled with the General Services Administration’s (GSA) celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act’s two-year anniversary, underscore the federal government’s commitment to fostering a robust, secure, and inclusive economic environment. You can read more about those topics in the articles below. Have a great weekend!

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: August 5-9, 2024

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Happy Friday, All. Please enjoy our latest week in review in order to stay on top of federal contracting news. Some interesting stories include Senate efforts to enhance oversight of Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements and address delays in Major Acquisition Programs (MTA). Meanwhile, the GSA is pushing forward with updated standards to accelerate federal buildings toward zero emissions, reflecting a broader shift towards sustainability. In cybersecurity, CISA’s CDM program is set to tackle emerging threats in the cloud, while the Department of State is piloting AI adoption to improve operations. You can read more about these topics in the articles below. Have a great weekend!

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: July 8-12, 2024

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Hello readers and happy Friday! We hope you had a nice 4th of July and were able to spend some time with friends and family. This week’s round-up of federal government news, includes some cautionary tales on why defrauding the government is a very bad idea, the impact of the Boeing guilty plea on its federal contracts, and commentary on the Percipient.ai case and its effect on COFC jurisdiction.

Have a great weekend!

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GSA Report: Be Truthful about Small Business Certifications

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The federal small business representation system relies in some part on self-certification and in some part on review by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and protests by competitors. The System for Award Management (SAM) is one key part of the federal procurement apparatus. Small businesses looking to take advantage of SBA’s socioeconomic programs must be registered in SAM, and crucially, must maintain up-to-date information in the system. Failure to do so can carry severe consequences, ranging from suspension and disbarment to civil and/or criminal penalties, including massive fines and even imprisonment. We’ve written before about some of the confusion contractors may have regarding self-reporting in SAM.

A recent General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report is a reminder to federal contractors about the importance of being accurate in representing small business status. It details several investigations into small business misrepresentations, and reminds contractors of the severe penalties that can result from misrepresentation. In this post we’ll highlight the examples provided by GSA OIG to show just what is at stake when a small business fails to update (or knowingly misrepresents) their status, and offer some clarification of the Federal Acquisition Regulations to help you avoid similarly extreme penalties.

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