February 6, 2019
As the GAO recently determined, and the Court of Federal Claims affirmed, an offeror who finds itself in a position of having to modify key personnel specified in its proposal, after the deadline for proposal submission, may end up with an unacceptable proposal. If an agency notified offerors that it might award without discussions, an offeror will not be able to "re-open" the proposal process to…
January 31, 2019
The Treasury Department has announced that the Prompt Payment Act (“PPA”) interest rate increased to 3.625% per annum for the first half of 2019 – i.e., January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019. This interest rate is used to calculate the interest penalty payable by the Government when it fails to timely pay contractors for goods and services, as well as interest due under the Contract Disputes Act…
January 23, 2019
Sometimes diligence on the part of a disappointed offeror pays off. An instance where diligence was rewarded was addressed recently by the General Accountability Office in the Miltope protest, decided January 8, 2019.
Miltope protested its exclusion from the competitive range under a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of the Army for multipurpose automatic test equipment,…
January 17, 2019
In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for calculating a revenue-based small business’s size status to five years. This Act was intended – as implied by its name – to extend the…
January 17, 2019
You are cordially invited to attend a free Seminar on “Trends in Employment and Labor Law,” which will be presented next Friday, January 25, 2019, beginning at 9:00 a.m. CST. The live Seminar will be held at the Tropicana Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, and will be available by Webinar and phone for those unable to attend in person. Topics covered will include Conducting Gender Pay Audits to…
January 17, 2019
New Statute Extends Small Business Size Standard Reference Period to Five (from Three) Years, Enabling More Companies to Qualify as Small
In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for…
January 9, 2019
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) recently proposed a new rule (click here) that would restrict the use of the lowest price technically acceptable (“LPTA”) source selection method. The rule will apply to FAR Part 15 negotiated procurements, Federal Supply Schedule orders, commercial item acquisitions, simplified acquisitions, and orders against multiple award indefinite delivery contracts. The…
January 2, 2019
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2019.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes. For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change and…
December 20, 2018
As recently as yesterday morning, I had shelved this article for at least a couple of more months. However, developments yesterday significantly increased the likelihood of a partial Federal Government shut-down at midnight tonight, causing me to resurrect and publish this today. As you no doubt know, President Trump has been threatening a possible shut-down since last year if he does not get his…
December 11, 2018
What happens when a competitor receives proprietary information during a procurement? Will an offeror whose information has been improperly disclosed succeed in a protest? The answer is . . . it depends. Most recently, in DynCorp International, LLC, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that an agency had a reasonable basis for not disqualifying a competitor that had received…
December 2, 2018
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week issued its Annual Report to Congress on bid protests during Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18; 10/1/17-9/30/18). The total number of bid protests filed (including supplemental protests, cost claims & reconsideration requests) increased marginally by less than 1% (2,607 vs. 2,596 protests in FY17 – an increase of 11 protests). GAO closed 2,642 protests…
November 28, 2018
Under the Competition in Contracting Act’s (CICA’s) automatic stay, agencies, upon receiving notice that the award is being protested, must “direct the contractor to cease performance under the contract and to suspend any related activities that may result in additional obligations being incurred by the United States under that contract.” 31 U.S.C. § 3553(d)(3)(A)(ii)(2). Although CICA gives the…
February 6, 2019
As the GAO recently determined, and the Court of Federal Claims affirmed, an offeror who finds itself in a position of having to modify key personnel specified in its proposal, after the deadline for proposal submission, may end up with an unacceptable proposal. If an agency notified offerors that it might award without discussions, an offeror will not be able to "re-open" the proposal process to…
January 31, 2019
The Treasury Department has announced that the Prompt Payment Act (“PPA”) interest rate increased to 3.625% per annum for the first half of 2019 – i.e., January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019. This interest rate is used to calculate the interest penalty payable by the Government when it fails to timely pay contractors for goods and services, as well as interest due under the Contract Disputes Act…
January 23, 2019
Sometimes diligence on the part of a disappointed offeror pays off. An instance where diligence was rewarded was addressed recently by the General Accountability Office in the Miltope protest, decided January 8, 2019.
Miltope protested its exclusion from the competitive range under a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of the Army for multipurpose automatic test equipment,…
January 17, 2019
In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for calculating a revenue-based small business’s size status to five years. This Act was intended – as implied by its name – to extend the…
January 17, 2019
You are cordially invited to attend a free Seminar on “Trends in Employment and Labor Law,” which will be presented next Friday, January 25, 2019, beginning at 9:00 a.m. CST. The live Seminar will be held at the Tropicana Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, and will be available by Webinar and phone for those unable to attend in person. Topics covered will include Conducting Gender Pay Audits to…
January 17, 2019
New Statute Extends Small Business Size Standard Reference Period to Five (from Three) Years, Enabling More Companies to Qualify as Small
In December 2018 – just before Christmas – the Senate approved, and the President signed into law, the so-called “Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018,” Pub. L. No. 115-324 (the “Act” or “statute”). This statute extends the three-year reference period for…
January 9, 2019
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) recently proposed a new rule (click here) that would restrict the use of the lowest price technically acceptable (“LPTA”) source selection method. The rule will apply to FAR Part 15 negotiated procurements, Federal Supply Schedule orders, commercial item acquisitions, simplified acquisitions, and orders against multiple award indefinite delivery contracts. The…
January 2, 2019
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is the time for New Year’s Resolutions. Here are several we strongly urge you to follow-through on early in 2019.
1. Reassess Your (and Any Subcontractors’) Small Business Size Status: Most companies operate on a calendar year for tax reporting purposes. For such companies the start of a new tax year, and the end of the prior year, means a change and…
December 20, 2018
As recently as yesterday morning, I had shelved this article for at least a couple of more months. However, developments yesterday significantly increased the likelihood of a partial Federal Government shut-down at midnight tonight, causing me to resurrect and publish this today. As you no doubt know, President Trump has been threatening a possible shut-down since last year if he does not get his…
December 11, 2018
What happens when a competitor receives proprietary information during a procurement? Will an offeror whose information has been improperly disclosed succeed in a protest? The answer is . . . it depends. Most recently, in DynCorp International, LLC, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that an agency had a reasonable basis for not disqualifying a competitor that had received…
December 2, 2018
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week issued its Annual Report to Congress on bid protests during Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18; 10/1/17-9/30/18). The total number of bid protests filed (including supplemental protests, cost claims & reconsideration requests) increased marginally by less than 1% (2,607 vs. 2,596 protests in FY17 – an increase of 11 protests). GAO closed 2,642 protests…
November 28, 2018
Under the Competition in Contracting Act’s (CICA’s) automatic stay, agencies, upon receiving notice that the award is being protested, must “direct the contractor to cease performance under the contract and to suspend any related activities that may result in additional obligations being incurred by the United States under that contract.” 31 U.S.C. § 3553(d)(3)(A)(ii)(2). Although CICA gives the…
