FEDERAL AGENCIES
“Class Deviation 2017-O0006, Increased Micro-Purchased Threshold.” Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, July 17, 2017. Retrieved from acq.osd.mil.
The Department of Defense issued a memorandum regarding the issued class deviation 2017-O0006, implementing provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The class deviation addresses increases the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000 for DoD procurements and to $10,000 for DoD basic research programs.
“Presidential Executive Order on Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States.” The White House, July 21, 2017. Retrieved from whitehouse.gov.
An executive order was issued to create a cross-government study on the capabilities of whether domestic manufacturing and defense industrial base can fully supply the country’s military needs. The assessment is due within 270 days of the dated executive order.
“NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Award Term (NFS Case 2016-N027).” Federal Register, July 25, 2017. Retrieved from federalregister.gov.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a final rule amending the NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Supplement (NFS) to add policy on the use of additional contract periods of performance or “award terms” as a contract incentive. This policy provides a non-monetary incentive for contractors whose performance is sustained at an excellent level. NASA does not expect this rule to have any significant economic impact on small entities, because it does not impose any new requirements on contractors. No substantial changes to the proposed rule were made after the comment period.
“Request for Information; Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees.” Federal Register, July 26, 2017. Retrieved from federalregister.gov.
The U.S. Department of Labor published a Request for Information (RFI) for the Overtime Rule. The public will have 60 days to comment whether the rule will have an adverse effect on low-wage regions and industries. The RFI is an opportunity for the public to provide information that will aid the department in formulating a proposal to revise regulations, which define and delimit exemptions from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements for certain employees. The RFI solicits feedback on questions related to the salary level test, the duties test, varying cost-of-living across different parts of the U.S., inclusion of non-discretionary bonuses and incentive payments to satisfy a portion of the salary level, the salary test for highly compensated employees, and automatic updating of the salary level tests.
The RFI will be published in the Federal Register with a 60-day public comment period. Instructions on submitting public comments are in the RFI. Comments may also be submitted electronically.
CAPITOL HILL
“House Passes Small Business Committee Bills to Increase Access to Capital.” U.S. House Small Business Committee Press Release, July 24, 2017. Retrieved from smallbusiness.house.gov.
The House passed three bills to increase access to capital and improve the lending environment for our nation’s small businesses. All following three bills will move to the Senate for consideration:
- H.R. 2333 increases the amount of capital made available to small business investment companies (“SBICs”).
- H.R. 2364 increases the amount that financial institutions may invest in SBICs, increasing the limit up to 15% of their holdings in SBICs.
- H.R. 2056 will raise the microloan lending limit from $5 million to $6 million and provide flexibility to the 25/75 rule which restricts the amount of pre-loan technical assistance a microloan intermediary can offer to their small business.
OTHER NEWS
“IT Modernization Gets Nod, But No Money, In House Funding Bills.” Nextgov, July 25, 2017. Retrieved from nextgov.com.
Government funding bills that are heading to the House floor this week don’t include money for a House-passed bill to upgrade government technology systems but “recognizes the importance” of those legislative efforts.
“Mainstays of GSA’s OASIS Contract Office Take New Jobs.” Nexgov, July 26, 2017. Retrieved from nextgov.com.
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) lost the top four managers from the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services contract (OASIS) program office. OASIS managers Todd Richards, Tommy Thomas, Valerie Bindel and Cat Renfro have taken undefined jobs at GSA’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM), which focuses on complex agency acquisitions. It is unsure how the new OASIS management team may disrupt the fourth-quarter buying season.
“Updated ‘Welcome to FedRAM’ Training Now Available.” FedRAMP, July 20, 2017. Retrieved from fedramp.gov.
FedRAMP announced the launch of their newly revamped “FedRAMP 100-A: Welcome to FedRAMP” online training course, which serves as an update to the original 100-A training developed in 2015. This one-hour introductory course in the FedRAMP Training Series is intended for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) who are not well acquainted with FedRAMP.