Government Contracts Monitor

Short Take: GSA Clarifies Jurisdiction Over Fair Opportunity Complaints Under GSA Multiple-Award Contracts

January 30, 2017

The General Services Administration (GSA) recently issued a Final Rule, effective January 9, 2017, amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to clarify that the Ordering Agency Task and Delivery Order Ombudsman has jurisdiction and responsibility to review and resolve “fair opportunity” complaints on task and delivery orders placed against GSA multiple-award…

FAR Final Rule Bars Contractor Confidentiality Agreements Restricting Employees and Subcontractors from Reporting Fraud, Waste & Abuse

January 23, 2017

The FAR Council has published a Final Rule, effective January 19, 2017, prohibiting the use of appropriated or otherwise available funds for any contract, grant or cooperative agreement with an entity that requires its employees or subcontractors to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that prohibit or otherwise restrict the lawful reporting of fraud, waste or abuse to a…

<center>New Year’s Resolutions, 2017</center>

January 3, 2017

Reassess Your Size Status, Update Your DSBS and SAM Listings, Check Your Past Performance Ratings, and Update Your Employment Policies, Handbooks and Postings

Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a time for New Year’s Resolutions.  Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2017.

        1.    Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies…

Short Take: New Contracting Opportunities on GSA Schedule 70

December 14, 2016

Jackson Kelly recently reported on the General Services Administration’s (GSA) solicitation for four new Special Item Numbers (SINs) under GSA’s Schedule 70, which covers IT services. Awards under these new SINs are well underway. GSA has again expanded Schedule 70’s reach, this time by adding Adobe’s data-centric security and electronic signature solutions to Schedule 70. The agency has…

Short Take: GSA Cyber SINs Up and Running

November 8, 2016

Jackson Kelly recently reported on the General Services Administration’s (GSA) solicitation for four new Special Item Numbers (SINs) for Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS). The new HACS SINS cover four areas:  Penetration Testing, Incident Response, Cyber Hunt, and Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. 

The HACS SINs are now available under GSA’s Schedule 70, which covers IT services. GSA…

Short Take: GSA Expands Cybersecurity Opportunities under Schedule 70

August 30, 2016

The General Services Administration (GSA), a central procurement source available for all federal agencies, has released a draft solicitation for four new Special Item Numbers (SINs) for Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS). The new HACS SINs will be available under GSA’s Schedule 70 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract, which covers IT services. Federal agencies can…

Remember, the RFP Is Your Touchstone in Both Structuring Your Proposal Team and Selecting Past Performance Examples

May 10, 2016

The solicitation is always your quintessential touchstone, in both constructing your proposal team and preparing your response, including particularly demonstrating your experience and selecting your past performance examples. You therefore need to carefully review the solicitation, and understand both what the agency says it wants, and what it requires and is willing to consider in evaluating…

Short Take: OHA Defers NAICS Code Size Standard Challenges Pending the Promulgation of New Governing Regulations

May 2, 2016

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA-16), 15 U.S.C. § 632(a)(9), authorizes SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to hear administrative challenges seeking reconsideration of NAICS Code size standards promulgated by SBA, “us[ing] the same process [OHA] uses to decide challenges to the size of a small business concern.” Id., § 632(a)(9)(A) & C).  Such requests are to be filed “not…

Feds Meet FY15 Small Business Prime Contracting Goals (Except HUBZone), But Individual Agency & Overall Subcontracting Shortfalls Persist, Providing Marketing Opportunities

May 1, 2016

In anticipation of this week’s national Small Business Week (May 1-7) activities, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) last Thursday announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard.  According to SBA, the federal government achieved its 23% small business contracting goal for the third straight year,…

Mentor/Protege Agreements – When Does Yours Expire; More Traps for the Unwary!

March 14, 2016

Mentor-Protege Agreements (MPAs) are a hot topic right now, as we near the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s anticipated issuance of new regulations on a possible “universal” Mentor-Protege program that would extend SBA’s current 8(a) Mentor-Protege (M/P) rules (13 C.F.R. §124.520), to other socio-economic programs.  However, as we have discussed from time-to-time, the rules governing…

Short Take: SBA Confirms Last Year’s Monetary-Based Size Standards Inflation Increases

January 25, 2016

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has published a Final Rule, effective January 25, 2016, adopting, as issued, SBA’s 2014 Interim Final Rule, previously discussed here, increasing SBA’s monetary-based size standards to account for inflation since 2008.  These adjustments, which resulted in size standard increases of approximately 8.73% (rounded to the nearest $500,000), were made…

FAR Proposed Rule Would Bar Contractor Confidentiality Agreements Restricting Employees and Subcontractors from Reporting Fraud, Waste & Abuse

January 25, 2016

The FAR Council has published a new Proposed Rule implementing Section 743 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), and anticipated successor provisions in future appropriations acts and continuing resolutions, prohibiting the use of appropriated or otherwise available funds for any contract, grant or cooperative agreement with an entity that requires…