On June 23, Jon Williams, Partner in the PilieroMazza Government Contracts Group, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. The committee held a hearing on the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States. Mr. Williams, and others, testified about the significance of the Kingdomware ruling for veteran-owned small businesses. The Supreme Court found that the “Vets First” mandate applies to all Department of Veterans Affairs contracts, including Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) task orders. This ruling is expected to increase contracting opportunities for veteran-owned small businesses at the VA.

Tom Leney, Executive Director of the VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, told the committee that the VA will comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aggressively looking at how to implement the decision throughout its acquisition system. The VA expects to have policies to accomplish this by mid-July, at which time the VA will report back to the committee. John Shoraka, Associate Administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development for the U.S. Small Business Administration, told the committee that SBA is examining whether the Kingdomware ruling has government-wide applicability for FSS task orders and how it impacts goaling