National Association of Government Contractors

Vet-owned small businesses get $20b NIH contract

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:21:50 PST

The National Institutes of Health has made 10 awards under the small business portion of its' "Chief Information Officers Solutions and Partners III" contract worth an estimated $20 billion.

DoD reconsiders commercial purchase rules

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:07:23 PST

The rules which stream-lined certain commercial purchases were supposed to make things easier for the government to buy everyday items similar to those sold in the private sector. However, misuse of the system is driving the Defense Department to contemplate changing purchase rules.

GSA funds found susceptible to theft

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:16:53 PST

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier in the week that between 2008 and 2010, government contractor Coleen Newton-White and her husband took nearly $300,000 from GSA by stealing agency credit cards from the motor pool in Fort Monroe, Va., and using them to sell discounted fuel to gas station customers.

8(a) justification rule made permanent

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:04:29 PST

Under the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act agencies had been required to provide justifications for sole-source contract awards to small business. The interim rule in effect since March 2011, was the subject of a revision to the Federal Acquisition Regulation on April 18 making the requirement permanent.

Graves says new defense bill should include reforms

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:24:23 PST

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the Small Business Committee is urging that recently proposed small-business contracting reforms be included in the Fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.

Bill would assign research centers government work

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:18:07 PST

Defense Department officials want to give Federally Funded Research and Development Centers access to government research and development work for up to five years according to a new defense bill. Concern exists that these multi-year contracts should not be assigned, instead they should be the subject of proper competition.

DoD errs in award of vet-owned contracts

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:59:43 PST

An inspector general report which was recently made public, has found that the Defense Department improperly awarded millions of dollars in veteran-owned contracts. The report, originally filed at the end of February, also found that the Pentagon made coding errors affecting billions of dollars more.

GSA head steps down, new director appointed

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:42:07 PST

Director of the General Services Administration Martha Johnson tendered her resignation on April 2nd following reports that the agency allocated an estimated $822,000 for the 2010 Western Conference. The GSA has since confirmed she will be replaced by Daniel M. Tangherlini, currently the assistant secretary of the Treasury for management and the department's chief financial officer, as acting administrator.

DoD official says defense cuts would be "devastating"

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:29:00 PST

Frank Kendall, the acting under-secretary for acquisitions and the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, stated at his nomination hearing Thursday that "hundreds of thousands of jobs" could be lost if the $500 billion in mandated cuts to defense set to take effect in January 2013.

GAO: strategies needed to prevent improper payments

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:19:57 PST

According to a memo released by the GAO this past week, improper payment continues to be an issue across the federal government and with some specific agencies. With several rules in place to combat the issue, the GAO examined the efficacy of those rules, and whether reporting methods and information gathered is reliable. As an example, the GAO foundrecent reports on Foster Care programs highlighted some of these issues.

Panel: DoD should develop small biz preference

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:52:47 PST

According to a recent House committee report, the decline in government spending has been particularly hard on some smaller contractors. The house panel has recommended, among other initiatives increasing government-wide contracting goals. The report also recommended the DoD begin an initiative which gives proven small business preferential treatment.

CCR registration delays: don't let them cost you.

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:19:52 PST

The Central Contractor Registration website recently began posting a notice which informs contractors that registrations will be delayed, due to a backlog in the DoD CAGE code validation. NAGC members are advised that the process of CCR registration, which normally takes a week to process, will likely take twice as long. Contractors who need to register or renew an existing registration, should do so early to avoid delays and ensure timely payment.

VA to investigate reverse-auction issues

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:57:07 PST

VA officials plan to launch an investigation following an internal memo which circulated last week, ordering VA contract officers to stop using reverse auctions until further notice citing difficulties and unintended disruptions as a result of using the vehicle once though to be a money-saver. The Veterans Affairs Department are currently working on a report for top VA officials which will detail how reverse auctions have impacted the department and how what role management plays in the difficulties.

House committee pushes pro-contractor bills

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:14:29 PST

Six bills -- intended to ensure more federal contract opportunities are given to small businesses -- have cleared the House Small Business Committee. The bills employ several tactics of achieving this goal; raising the percentage of federal contracts allocated to small businesses, improving the efficacy of agency Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization offices, attempting to root out large firms using small business fronts to win contracts, and requiring agencies that continue to insource previously contracted work to provide notice online, giving contractors an opportunity to protest. The bills signal bipartisan frustration at the Obama administration's approach to encouraging small business contracting, which many see as a prime vehicle for job creation.

Contractor rights limited in Contracting Reform Act

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:00:44 PST

In response to the final report issued last year by the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which addressed issues of abuse in overseas contingency contracting, lawmakers responsible for establishing the commission have introduced legislation aimed to improve oversight. The bill would grant contracting officers wide discretion to institute automatic suspensions, while stripping contractors of rights to review processes.

Inspector General finds Defense awards to vets flawed

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:43:36 PST

A report released by the DOD's Inspector General on February 29 claims, "Inadequate Controls Over the DoD Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside Program" have allowed ineligible Contractors" to receive nearly $342 million through error or inaccurate status reporting.

SBA redefines "small business" to include more firms

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:07:12 PST

The SBA recently published new guidelines on what size a business must be to qualify as a "small business." The rules which appeared in the Federal Register on Feb. 10, with the rules scheduled to go into effect March 12, has met with mixed reactions from legislators. The new size standards, the first SBA has undertaken since the early 1980s, has determined that larger businesses in 34 industries and three sub-industries in some technology and science sectors may be exempted from previous standards.

House bill would target contract bundling

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:50:55 PST

House Small Business Committee members are aiming at contract bundling as part of a comprehensive contracting-reform plan. The Contractor Opportunity Protection Act would limit the ability of agencies to bundle contracts. The bill would provide the Small Business Administration and third-party groups with the ability to appeal an agency's decision to bundle several contracts into one. Additionally, officials would have to consider small businesses early on when planning a procurement.

Contractor political disclosures on hold

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:56:59 PST

The Obama administration has not backed off its efforts to require contractors to disclose political campaign contributions when they submit contract bids. The initiative first surfaced in April 2011, when a draft executive order was circulated that would have directed agencies to gather information from companies about their political contributions.

WSJ: Obama proposes cap on wartime spending

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:23:22 PST

In an effort to reduce spending the White House has proposed a ceiling on military spending which would span nearly two decades. The Wall Street Journal reports that proposed the proposed cuts are drawing criticism, particularly provisions that target military pay and benefits for U.S. troops.