The Weekly Update for October 21, 2016
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Small Business Mentor-Protégé Programs – Corrections The SBA has issued technical corrections to its final rule published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2016 (81 FR 48557), amending its regulations to establish a new government-wide mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns, consistent with SBA’s mentor-protégé program for participants in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program. The rule, which went into effect August 24, 2016, also made several additional changes to current size, 8(a), Office of Hearings . . . Read More
M&A Transactions with Government Contractors – Mike De Gennaro – Set-Aside Alert
The Weekly Update for November 18, 2016
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, AND NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Clarification of Requirement for Justifications for 8(a) Sole Source Contracts The Department of Defense (“DOD”), General Services Administration (“GSA”), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) have issued a proposed rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to clarify the guidance for sole-source 8(a) contract awards exceeding $22 million. This proposed rule responds to the recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) in its report, “Slow Start . . . Read More
Non-Commercial Computer Software Rights and Government Misconceptions About What It Buys
This article is the third installment in a series on Data Rights in Federal Contracts. We first wrote about what data rights were ; then about technical data and how to protect it ; and now we will discuss ownership, license rights, and the protection of rights in non-commercial computer software. Because non-commercial computer software is treated like non-commercial data under the FAR (a topic discussed at length in the prior installment of this series), we will focus now on how non-commercial software is treated under the DFARS. That said, the general principles discussed . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for October 14, 2016
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Implementing Category Management for Common Goods and Services The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) in the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) has proposed the issuance of a new OMB Circular, Implementing Category Management for Common Goods and Services, to codify category management, a strategic practice where Federal contracting for common goods and services is managed by categories of spending across the Government and supported by teams of experts. The Circular establishes key principles, and strategies and . . . Read More
Take Note of This Law Regarding Small Business Offerors Under Multiple Award Contracts
By Julia Di Vito The National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2016, which went into effect on November 25, 2015, contains some requirements regarding multiple award contracts that you might not know about. The 2016 NDAA amended part of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 644(q), which governs the award of contracts by the Federal Government. This statute, as amended, now requires that for any multiple award contract above the “substantial bundling threshold of the Federal agency,” the agency . . . Read More
Protecting Your Small Business Status: JVs, Restructuring and Diversifying
Presented by Jon Williams and Mike de Gennaro at the 2016 National HUBZone Conference
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces and Other Successful Compliance Strategies
Presented by Nichole Atallah
Expiration of GAO’s Jurisdiction of Civilian Agency Task Order Protests Limits Government Contractor Options
As of October 1, the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (“GAO”) jurisdiction over protests on civilian agency task orders valued at more than $10 million expired, leaving government contractors with limited grounds for protesting such task order awards. In 1994, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (“FASA”) was enacted in response to concerns that the federal procurement process was too cumbersome and complicated. One of the FASA reforms included a limitation on contractors’ ability to protest the issuance of task order awards, . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for October 7, 2016
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Prohibition on Contracting With Corporations with Delinquent Taxes or a Felony Conviction Updating Federal Contractor Reporting of Veterans’ Employment Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information Sole Source Contracts for Women-Owned Small Businesses Consolidation and Bundling Amendment Relating to Multi-Year Contract Authority for Acquisition of Property Contractors Performing Private Security Functions Section of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 Implemented Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-91 Small Entity Compliance Guide Department of Defense’s (“DOD”) Defense Industrial Base (“DIB”) Cybersecurity (“CS”) Activities SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Early Stage Business . . . Read More