Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – September 10, 2019
If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS LAW Late Is Late—Even on the GSA Schedule, September 9, 2019, Katie Flood In a recent blog, we discussed the “late is late” rule in government contracting which has been the cause of many protests and much consternation among government contractors. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) have consistently held that it is proper for an agency to reject . . . Read More
Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – July 29, 2019
If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link. FALSE CLAIMS ACT / LITIGATION PODCAST: PilieroMazza’s GovCon Live! presents “Ex Rel. Radio,” our multi-part series on the False Claims Act, which will include commentary on potential pitfalls for your company, enforcement issues, and emerging trends. Please subscribe to one of our podcast accounts – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, or Stitcher – to receive a notification when the first podcast in this series, “Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for April 16, 2018
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING As reported in a Government Executive article, President Trump announced in a tweet that he intended to nominate Jovita Carranza, currently the Treasurer of the United States, to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Ms. Carranza worked as a Senate-confirmed deputy administrator at SBA during the George W. Bush administration and previously had a 20-year career at the United Parcel Service, ending as president of Latin America and Caribbean operations. According to Bloomberg Law, the . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for April 19, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING As reported by Bloomberg Government, the Department of Health and Human Services is competing for a follow-on contract worth as much as $347 million to continue implementing the federal employee and contractor identification, authentication, and cybersecurity standards outlined in the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12). The scope of the contract—called the HSPD-12 Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) Systems Integration Support (SiS)—falls into two domains. Both domains aim to ensure that employees and contractors have credentials for access . . . Read More
BLOG: Could You Be the Target of a Government Claim?
Most contractors know that they may submit a claim under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) if a problem arises during performance. However, many contractors are not aware that the government also has the ability to bring a claim. Likewise, contractors may not understand the options for responding to a government claim. Given the potential gravity of a government claim, these are issues contractors should be aware of. To begin, you may be wondering what types of claims the government may bring. . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for April 12, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING The Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a notification of the availability of a white paper regarding the revision of its size standards methodology and explaining how it establishes, reviews, or revises small business size standards. The revised white paper, entitled “SBA’s Size Standards Methodology (April 2019)” (Revised Methodology) is available on the SBA’s website, as well as on the Federal rulemaking portal. SBA intends to apply the Revised Methodology to the ongoing second five-year comprehensive review of size . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for March 22, 2019
HEARING ON THE SMALL BUSINESS RUNWAY EXTENSION ACT The House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure is holding a hearing on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at 10:00 a.m., concerning the implementation of the Small Business Runway Extension Act (H.R. 6330) (the “Act”). The Act was signed into law in December 2018 and was designed to help small businesses successfully bridge the gap between competing in the small business space and the open marketplace against larger companies by changing the . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for March 8, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) report on high-risk areas. Mr. Dodaro’s testimony explained that the GAO’s high-risk program has focused attention on government operations with greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that are in need of transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. The GAO’s 2019 High Risk Report, among other things, identified . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for February 22, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest filed by Ekagra Partners, LLC challenging the terms of a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the General Services Administration (GSA). In its protest, Ekagra Partners argued the solicitation for the OASIS Small Business on-ramp, which included terms that improperly restricted competition by limiting the ways in which a small business joint venture could form teams to submit a proposal. The GAO found that the solicitation’s limitation on the ability . . . Read More
Not So Fast: Practical Considerations Before Novating Your GSA Schedule Contract
The acquisition market for federal contractors is booming. Acquisition can provide a buyer the opportunity to target its growth strategically by acquiring the seller’s past performance and experience, in addition to gaining the seller’s personnel and resources. Of course, part of what makes a seller attractive is the contracts found in its portfolio. While the government does not officially condone the “buying and selling” of federal contracts, a contract may be novated after an acquisition if the buyer has acquired . . . Read More