Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Although congress and the president ended the system of withholding 3 percent of payments to contractors in 2011, experts fear that equally burdensome compliance mandates might take its' place. President Obama signed the 3% Withholding Repeal and Job Creation Act into law Nov. 21, after it easily moved through Congress, yet observers like David Gallacher, associate at the Sheppard Mullin law firm is still concerned. As Gallagher wrote in a Jan. 11 blog post, government and industry should watch for something just as "dysfunctional" that could take the witholding system's place.
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Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Under a proposed bill, agencies that miss a set goal to contract with small businesses could lose 10 percent of its budget as a penalty. Introduced by Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) the Small Business Growth and Federal Accountability Act (H.R. 3779) seeks to remedy governmental shortfall of the 23-percent small-business contracting goal.
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Saturday, January 21st, 2012
According to a report appearing in The Chicago Tribune on January 20, 2012:
"Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday touted a plan to reconfigure a contracting initiative for women- and minority-owned businesses, the same day his administration announced an $11 million settlement for abuse in a program that was scandal-plagued under his predecessor."
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Saturday, January 7th, 2012
The following items affecting government contractors, were published in the Jan. 6, 2012, Federal Register concerning: IT Security, The Blindness/Disability Procurement List and Foreign Arms Sales Notification.
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Thursday, January 5th, 2012
The Obama administration has issued a final rule to implement several clarifying recommendations from the Government Accountability Office on time-and-materials contracts.
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Debt Committee fails to reach agreement, Obama fails to force contractors to disclose political donations on contract bids, 3% withholding tax repealed by Congress -- signed by president, GAO questions administration's contract reform savings claims.
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011
The Washington Post recently rounded up the highlights of 2011 for smaller entrepreneurs, including the repeal of burdensome healthcare reform measures and regulations on federal contractors, as well as, rescued small business research programs.
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Saturday, December 31st, 2011
At a recent event just outside the beltway, a group of small, woman-owned and veteran-owned businesses met to identify effective government contracting strategies for 2012. While the panelists acknowledged a shrinking pie due to automatic budget cuts slated for FY 2012, their experiences suggest that, focusing on relationship building and playing to strengths -- put small businesses in a position to benefit from agency goals for minority and small business contracting.
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Monday, December 26th, 2011
The Office of Management and Budget wants government agencies to buy from small businesses when making purchases less than $3,000 and now track how much spending goes to them, according to a new memo released Dec. 19. Agencies would identify spending with small businesses through the General Services Administration's SmartPay.
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Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
According to a press release circulated last week, stating that "Rep. Eshoo Hails Campaign Finance Disclosure Language in Omnibus Spending Bill," efforts to require government contractors to identify political donations persist.
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Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Lawmakers have blocked any chance of advancing the Obama administration's draft proposal that would require companies to identify which political candidates and parties they support when bidding on a contract.
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Friday, December 9th, 2011
As a federal inspector general told a Senate subcommittee Dec. 2, IGs need the authority to set their own priorities and point their resources where they are most needed rather than adhere to mandatory audit rules. Chairwoman of the legislation committee for the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, Peggy Gustafson, said IGs are concerned that statutory requirements for investigations into whistleblower allegations and deadlines mandating the completion of an investigation could burden the government's IG offices.
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Friday, November 25th, 2011
Administration procurement officials and Government Accountability Office auditors disagree over the administration's claimed savings from contracting reform initiatives. A recent GAO report questioned the Office of Management and Budget's figures estimating government agencies saved $15 billion from fiscal 2009 to 2010 through the administration's savings initiative.
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
The New Yorks Times reports that partisan battles over budget matters can be expected: "The likely failure of the bipartisan Congressional deficit committee has opened the door for a year-end showdown on expiring stimulus measures that are adding billions of dollars to workers' pockets and, economists say, buoying the fragile recovery."
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Saturday, November 19th, 2011
Agencies may soon have a smoother, more efficient process for gathering small-business contracting data. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the Small Business Administration said Nov. 14 in a memo that they are aligning operations.
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, made the following comments following the Senate passage of H.R. 2112, which extends the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for another 29 days.
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Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
The Senate amended version of H.R. 674 passed this evening in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 422 to 0. The bill now goes to the White House for the President's signature. Congressmen Wally Herger (R-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) along with Senators Scott Brown (R-MA) and David Vitter (R-LA) worked tirelessly to push through the legislation in the House. Chairman Dave Camp and Ranking Member Sander Levin should also be recognized for their efforts in Committee, and Speaker John Boehner, Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy for putting the 3% repeal on the House "to do" list. Also deserving of praise is Leader Mitch McConnell for pushing this legislation in the Senate. This resounding and overwhelmingly bipartisan vote is the result of the persistent and diverse efforts of the National Association of Government Contractors and the Government Withholding Relief Coalition.
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Thursday, November 10th, 2011
In early November, the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulations requiring contractors to identify and prevent personal conflicts of interest for contractor employees.
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Saturday, November 5th, 2011
Agencies must consider setting aside task and delivery orders for small businesses, according to a new interim rule, as procurement officials try to help the companies in the expansive world of multiple-award contracts.
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Friday, November 4th, 2011
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has approved a bill that would reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent over the next three years. For every three federal workers retiring or leaving over the next decade, one worker will take their place.
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