The Weekly Update for June 24, 2016

SENATE TESTIMONY Jon Williams Testifies in Kingdomware Senate Committee Hearing GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Small Business Transforming America’s Regions Act of 2016 Federal Acquisition Regulation: Strategic Sourcing Documentation Federal Civil Penalties Adjustment Act Amendments Transactional Data Reporting This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy . SENATE TESTIMONY Jon Williams Testifies in Kingdomware Senate Committee Hearing 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 . . . Read More

Jon Williams Testifies in Kingdomware Senate Committee Hearing

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. . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for June 10, 2016

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS OMB Issues Final Guidance for Category Management Amendments Proposed for 2017 NDAA SBA Releases Semiannual Regulatory Agenda This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS OMB Issues Final Guidance for Category Management Final guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week has accelerated the push for government-wide consolidation of acquisitions for software licenses. Part of the so-called “category management” initiative, the government’s goal is to eliminate redundancy in software licenses and make the buying and managing of software management more efficient and unified by grouping similar products into categories. OMB’s . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for June 3, 2016

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Small Business Government Contracting and National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Small Business Government Contracting and National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 This final rule amends the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA or Agency) regulations to implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, which pertains to performance requirements applicable to small business and socioeconomic program set-aside contracts and small business subcontracting.  This rule also amends SBA’s regulations concerning the nonmanufacturer . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for May 27, 2016

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Debt Refinancing in 504 Loan Program Small Business Size Standards This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Debt Refinancing in 504 Loan Program The Small Business Administration has issued an interim final rule that implements Section 521 of Division E, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, which authorizes projects approved for financing under Title V of the Small Business Investment Act to include the refinancing of qualified debt, 81 Fed. Reg. 33123 .  Comments are due by July 25, 2016 and the rule is effective . . . Read More

The Weekly Update for May 20, 2016

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Overtime Final Rule GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Simplified Acquisition Threshold for Overseas Acquisitions in Support of Humanitarian or Peacekeeping Operations Basic Safeguarding of Contractor Information Systems Improvement in Design-Build Construction Process SMALL BUSINESS Small Entity Compliance Guide Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments This week’s report follows,  click here if you would like to download a copy. LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Overtime Final Rule The Department of Labor issued its final overtime rule which updates the salary level required for the executive, administrative, and professional (“white collar”) exemption to ensure that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s intended overtime protections . . . Read More

Eight Principles You Should Know When Negotiating Your Teaming Agreement

By Michelle Litteken As the saying goes, “two heads are better than one.”  This statement often applies to government contracting, where contractors frequently work together in joint ventures or prime and subcontractor teams to bid on and perform contracts. Teaming with another contractor may help a contractor enter new markets, support new customers, and develop a deeper past performance record. And, teaming with a participant of one of the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) set aside programs (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, or . . . Read More

OHA Says Mentor-Protégé Affiliation Exemption Does NOT Excuse Program-Specific Requirements for SDVOSB Joint Ventures

SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals recently issued a surprising decision finding that the mentor-protégé affiliation exemption does not excuse program-specific requirements for SDVOSB joint ventures. OHA agreed with SBA’s Office of Government Contracting in finding that an SDVOSB joint venture was ineligible because one of the joint venture partners was a large business. The two joint venture partners were approved as mentor and protégé under SBA’s 8(a) Program. They thought they qualified as a small business for the SDVOSB procurement because . . . Read More

FY2015 Procurement Scorecard: Another “A” for the Government

Yesterday, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released its annual small business procurement “report card,” identifying how the federal government as whole and major federal agencies measured up in terms of meeting their small business prime and subcontracting goals for the 2015 fiscal year. The federal government got an “A,” as did 18 of the 24 major Federal agencies. And, three agencies (i.e., the Department of Justice, the General Services Administration, and SBA) even got an “A+.”  2015 marks the third consecutive year . . . Read More