Government Contracts MonitorShort Take: Treasury Increases Prompt Payment & Contract Disputes Interest RatesJuly 27, 2015 The Treasury Department has announced that the Prompt Payment Act interest rate is being increased to 2 3/8 % per annum for the period of July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. Federal Register Notice. This interest rate is used to calculate the interest penalty paid by the Government when it fails to timely pay contractors for goods and services, as well as interest due under the Contract… Safety & Health Issues Threatening Your Eligibility for Award? DOL Guidance Addresses MitigationJuly 20, 2015 Last July, Executive Order 13673, “Fair Play and Safe Workplaces” required contractors to disclose certain safety violations and directed procuring agencies to consider those violations as part of the determination of whether a contractor has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics. It also made clear that, while each contractor’s disclosed violations are assessed on a case?by?case… Feds Fall Short on Small Business Subcontracting and Other Goals for FY14July 20, 2015 The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) small business goaling results and Small Business Procurement Scorecard. According to SBA, the federal government awarded a total of $91.1 billion in prime contracts to small business – an $8 billion increase over FY13. SBA naturally highlighted the fact that this equaled… Short Take: Higher Ed Isn’t Above the LawJuly 20, 2015 Education Affiliates (EA), a for-profit company providing post-secondary professional training at fifty campuses, has agreed to pay the U.S. government $13 million to settle claims under the False Claims Act. The settlement resolves five lawsuits, all of which arose from EA’s allegedly false claims to the Department of Education (ED) for federal financial aid. According to ED, in order to… Faulty Corrective Action Triggers Government Liability for Protester’s Legal FeesJuly 13, 2015 The Court of Federal Claims recently awarded legal fees to a protestor who successfully challenged the government’s irrational corrective action – action taken in connection with a prior protest – because the government’s position was not “substantially justified.” WHR Group Inc. Opinion. As set out in WHR Group, Inc. v. United States, the FBI’s planned corrective action “took a wrong… Some Is Better Than None: Even A Partial Win May Get You A Piece Of Your FeesJuly 13, 2015 The recent decision, J.M. Carranza Trucking Co. v. United States Postal Service, PSBCA Nos. 6354, 6367, 6373, 6421 and 6422 (June. 3, 2015), reminds us that even if a contractor does not win on every argument, it can still recover attorney fees and expenses for the portion of its dispute upon which it does prevail. It also serves as a reminder that it is important to keep detailed records… Short Take: Big Incentive to Blow the Whistle on Small Business Set Aside ScamsJuly 13, 2015 Sansbury and Buechler, former employees of LB&B Associates, Inc., filed suit under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act for false claims allegedly made by their former employer to the government. Specifically, the former employees alleged that LB&B made false statements to obtain contracts through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 8(a) Business Development Program… Short Take: More DoD Guidance on Cost AnalysisJuly 6, 2015 The Department of Defense just revised its policies and procedures for estimating and analyzing costs for DoD procurements. The 39-page instruction includes guidance on the scope and timing of cost estimates and encourages DOD officials to think about efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and acquisition strategy while conducting their cost analyses. According to DoD, “Independent and sound cost… Short Take – OPM’s Data Security Issues Are Making Background Check Backlog WorseJuly 6, 2015 In the wake of the massive data breaches that recently hit the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the hacked agency took its Web-based platform for submitting background investigation forms offline until a security flaw can be fixed. The system, known as e-QIP, is expected to be down for four to six weeks while a patch is put in place. OPM processed roughly 1.2 million background… Amending the RFP Through a “Threatened” Pre-Proposal ProtestJuly 6, 2015 You are a small business, and believe you have the inside track on a substantial services contract opportunity. You have prepared your proposal, including pricing, and proposals are due mid-day tomorrow. You know the procurement is proceeding on a fast-track, with scheduled contract start-up in a month. However, the agency has just thrown a monkey wrench into the works by… Okay, You Got a Debriefing, But Was It “Required”?June 26, 2015 A protestor recently learned the hard way that not all debriefings are created equal. In order to take advantage of the debriefing exception to the bid protest timeliness rules, a debriefing must not only have been held, it must have been "required" to be held, for it to extend the time you have to file a protest. Absent a "required" debriefing, the filing deadline is 10 days after… Once again, the Devil’s in the Details -- and the DocumentsJune 26, 2015 In procurement, even the most seemingly insignificant things can actually rob you of any chance of an award. If you want to win contracts, you need to pay attention to detail. This lesson was driven home once again in the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in Team Systems International, B-411139 (May 22, 2015). The case involved an Army procurement of… |
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