The Weekly Update for December 14, 2018
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING A former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Facility Chief pleaded guilty to receiving illegal gratuities. Steven Eric Kremer, a former Chief of the Range and Mission Management Office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) pleaded guilty to receiving gratuities in exchange for official acts performed in his capacity as a government official as well as stealing funds from a government contract. As Chief of the Range and Mission Management Office, Mr. Kremer administered the Range Operations Contract . . . Read More
SBA Proposes Significant Changes to Its Small Business Regulations
On December 4, 2018, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a proposed rule (“Rule”) to implement several provisions of the National Defense Authorization Acts (“NDAA”) of 2016 and 2017 and the Recovery Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act of 2015 (“RISE Act”), as well as other clarifying amendments. The Rule will likely garner a lot of attention in the coming weeks, as it proposes a number of sweeping amendments that could have a significant impact on small business government contracting. . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for December 7, 2018
RULES AND REGULATIONS Proposed Rules The Small Business Administration (SBA) published a proposed rule amending its regulations and implementing provisions of the NDAAs of 2016 and 2017 as well as the Recovery Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act of 2015 (RISE Act). The proposed rule would (1) clarify that contracting officers have the authority to request information in connection with a contractor’s compliance with applicable limitations on subcontracting clauses; (2) provide exclusions for purposes of compliance with the limitations . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for December 3, 2018
RULES AND REGULATIONS The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a proposed rule on November 29, 2018 proposing to amend and update its VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) in phased increments to revise or remove any policy superseded by changes in the FAR. It will also remove procedural guidance that is internal to the VA, move it to the VA Acquisition Manual, and incorporate new agency-specific regulations or policies. The proposed rule would also add VAAR coverage concerning Environment, Energy and . . . Read More
You’ve Decided to Sell Your Business— How to Be Prepared to Execute the Deal
After years of building, growing, and investing in your business, there comes a point at which you start to think about an exit strategy. Perhaps your exit will be transitioning the ownership of your business to a family member or selling the majority of your ownership interest to an investor and taking a back seat going forward, or maybe it’s selling the whole business enterprise. Regardless of the type of exit you contemplate, selling a business is not for the . . . Read More
New Receipts Calculation for Federal Contractors?
Congress is considering changing the receipts calculation for small businesses. Currently, a company’s size is determined based on the average annual receipts of the three recently completed fiscal years. However, in the Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018, H.R. 6330, which the House passed on September 25, 2018, the House of Representatives proposes amending the Small Business Act to change this time period to five years. In a Report dated September 12, 2018, the House Small Business Committee (“HSBC”) observed that the . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for September 7, 2018
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Boosting small business demands big ideas According to an article in dcma.mil, there are 28 million small businesses in America, and Defense Contract Management Agency’s small business team wants as many of them as possible to join the defense industrial base. “Our mission is to provide small business support to our defense and government customers by ensuring subcontracting compliance and optimizing subcontracting opportunities,” said Tatia Evelyn-Bellamy, the director of DCMA’s Small Business Office and Small Business Compliance . . . Read More
Megan Connor was recently quoted in Bloomberg Government Federal Contracts Report article, “GAO to Pentagon: Not So Fast With Your Cloud Services Award.”
Megan Connor was recently quoted in Bloomberg Government Federal Contracts Report in an article discussing GAO’s decision that DOD overstepped its other transaction authority in making a $950 million award to REAN Cloud LLC, based on a protest filed by Oracle Corp. Ms. Connor stated that GAO “simply applied the plain language of the other transaction authority statute to find the Army did not comply.” Further she stated, “[f]rankly, I’m surprised the Army didn’t take corrective action to avoid a . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for May 4, 2018
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Amendments Related to Sources of Electronic Parts The Department of Defense (DoD) is issuing a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 that makes contractors and subcontractors subject to approval (as well as review and audit) by appropriate DoD officials when identifying a contractor-approved supplier of electronic parts. 83 Fed. Reg. 87, 19641-2. Defense Federal Acquisition . . . Read More
Other Transaction Authority: What Is It and How Can I Get It?
If you followed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (“FY 2018 NDAA”) or the recent cloud computing award to REAN Cloud, you likely heard the term “other transaction authority,” but may have wondered what it means. The term is an invention of lawmakers to give the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) maximum flexibility in obtaining innovation without the trappings of traditional procurements. Contractors looking to take advantage of “other transaction authority” or “OTA” need to know some . . . Read More