PNWC’s Government Contracting Update - page 62

Last February, the Justice Department announced that MCC Construction Company had agreed to pay $1.8 million in criminal penalties and forfeiture for conspiring to commit fraud by illegally obtaining government contracts that were intended for small disadvantaged businesses (e.g. 8(a) set-asides). Unfortunately, these kinds of cases are not rare – MCC used a couple of firms in SBA’s 8(a) program to obtain contracts and then proceeded to do the work themselves.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Contractor Officer Fined $166 Thousand for Lying to Government Investigators

FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) Part 13 covers “simplified acquisition procedures” for purchasing supplies and services. The purpose of “simplified acquisition procedures” is to (i) reduce the Government’s and the prospective contractors administrative costs, (ii) improve opportunities for small, small disadvantaged, women-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns to obtain a fair proportion of Government contract, (iii) promote efficiency and economy in contracting, and (iv) avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update

The Senate Armed Services Committee has included a provision in the 2017 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) that would establish a new Cost Accounting Standards Board within the Department of Defense.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Wait a Minute, What? A Defense Cost Accounting Standards Board?

A publishing company based in Wisconsin has agreed to pay $750 thousand in civil penalties to resolve claims arising from allegations that it sloppily complied with the terms of its Government, particularly requirements related to safeguarding personally identifiable information. These claims were only allegations and the contractor admitted no liability in paying the $750 thousand.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Lax Contract Compliance Practices Costs Contractor $750,000

The President’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Executive Order 13673 has, to say the least, been very controversial, not for what it tries to achieve, but for the extreme record-keeping and reporting burden it places on businesses doing work for the Government. One of the recurring criticisms is its application to all contractors including those who have never had issues with of violations of pay and safety regulations. The implementing regulations by themselves are extensive. The Department of Labor’s is 103 pages. The FAR Council’s draft is 131 pages on top of Labor’s. Other Agencies of the Federal Government have their own.See our post from last March, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces with links to other postings on our coverage of the subject.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Possible Exemption for DoD Contractors from the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Executive Order

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) program is the Federal Government’s primary vehicle for developing small businesses. Tribal 8(a) firms, such as firms owned by Alaska Native Corporations, can with sole-source contracts for any dollar amount in the 8(a) program, while other 8(a) firms generally must compete for contracts valued above certain dollar thresholds.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: DoD Usage of Sole-Source Procurements to 8(a) Firms Continues to Decline

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a solicitation for cyber security support services, information technology support services and policy and governance services. . The solicitation limited the technical proposal to 10 pages, single-spaced, using 12 point (or larger) Times New Roman, Courier, Geneva, Arial, or Universal font type. The solicitation stated that proposals in excess of the ten pages would not be evaluated.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: How to Get Around a Solicitation’s Page Limitation

In 2013, the Air Force issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for comprehensive fleet management for various special-purpose vehicles and trailers to support base stand-ups and continued operations of the Saudi F-15 aircraft fleet. The Air Force initially selected SupplyCore’s proposal for award. However that award held up because two “disappointed” offerors protested to the GAO (Government Accountability Office). The GAO sustained the protest so the Air Force had to conduct additional analyses and evaluations. After that, the Air Force, once again, selected SupplyCore’s proposal for award. This time, three “disappointed” offerors protested the bid, which, in November 2015, the GAO sustained their protests. After the GAO tossed out the second award, the Air Force notified the offerors that it was cancelling the solicitation. The Air Force informed the offerors that, given the amount of time that has passed between the original solicitation and the second GAO protest decision, the program team was asked to perform a re-assessment of the needs and determined that the services were no longer required.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Multiple Bid Protests Lead to RFP Cancellation

Have you ever wondered why the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) includes references to telegrams? Probably not. But there are dozens of them. Have you ever tried sending a telegram lately? When was the last time you received a telegram? Ever? Its been more than 10 years since Western Union ceased its telegram service yet the references to telegrams lives on in the Government’s acquisition regulations. But perhaps not for long.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: FAR Proposal to Eliminate Telegrams as Preferred Method of Communication

The General Services Administration Acquisition Regulations (GSAR, or sometimes referred to as GSAM) requires a price reduction clause (see GSAR 552.238-75) be included in each GSA Schedule contract. Just as the Government is assured that it secures the most favorable pricing during negotiations, the price reduction clause ensures that it continues to receive “best pricing” throughout the life of the contract. In effect, the clause ensures that the most favorable relationship that existed at the time of negotiations continues throughout the life of the contract.

Source: Price Reduction Clause in GSA Contracts | PNWC’s Government Contracting Update