Government Contracting News | The Contracting Education Academy

October 23, 2020 By cs

DoD’s interim rule adds a new twist to implementing cyber maturity model

The Defense Department released one of the last major pieces to complete the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program puzzle.

The Pentagon issued an interim rule under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations on Sept. 29 to add more clarity around the implementation timeline and around the requirements contractors will have to adhere to over the next five years.

One surprise among observers is the new requirements for vendors working at medium or high security levels to undergo an assessment by the government of how they comply with the standards outlined in Special Publication 800-171 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“The assessment uses a standard scoring methodology, which reflects the net effect of NIST SP 800-171 security requirements not yet implemented by a contractor, and three assessment levels (basic, medium and high), which reflect the depth of the assessment performed and the associated level of confidence in the score resulting from the assessment,” the interim rule stated. “A basic assessment is a self-assessment completed by the contractor, while medium or high assessments are completed by the government. The assessments are completed for each covered contractor information system that is relevant to the offer, contract, task order, or delivery order.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-industry/2020/09/dods-interim-rule-adds-a-new-twist-to-implementing-cyber-maturity-model/

October 22, 2020 By cs

Pentagon transitioning its COVID-19 acquisition task force to permanent office

The Joint Acquisition Task Force the Pentagon set up to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going away, even when the pandemic finally does.

Defense officials have decided to turn it into a permanent assisted acquisition organization to help other federal agencies deal with complex procurement problems.

The department set up the task force earlier this year to serve as the single coordinator for the acquisition support it offered to other agencies during the COVID response. Since then, it’s executed more than $3 billion in contracts for other agencies — mostly the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Ellen Lord, DoD’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said department leaders determined the interagency cooperation function needs to be an enduring capability. Starting in 2021, the Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) will become the Defense Assisted Acquisition Cell (DA2C), and will be part of the existing Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/09/pentagon-transitioning-its-covid-19-acquisition-task-force-to-permanent-office/

October 21, 2020 By cs

Proposed rule portends increased contractor Buy American Act obligations

On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Case 2019-016 “Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials,” 85 FR 56558, which proposes certain increased and new thresholds for contractors subject to the Buy American Act (BAA).

The proposed changes implement Executive Order 13881 (July 15, 2019). There is a November 13, 2020, deadline for interested parties to submit written comments for consideration in the final rule.

Notwithstanding the potential for the proposed changes to be incorporated into a final rule, the changes will only impact contractors if the basic BAA rules are not overridden by the Trade Agreements Act (TAA) or Balance of Payments Program. The BAA only applies to purchases over the micropurchase threshold and under the threshold for TAA applicability, which is currently $182,000 for supply contracts and $7,008,000 for construction contracts. That said, even when a contract exceeds the TAA threshold, the BAA still applies to certain categories of acquisitions, including, but not limited to, sole source awards, small business set-asides, and certain national security or national defense purchases.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2020/09/30/proposed-rule-portends-increased-contractor-baa-obligations/

October 20, 2020 By cs

Nonprofit to pay $1.9 million to settle false claims and kickback allegations on federal contracts for blind workers

Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired Inc. (IBI) has agreed to pay $1,938,684.09 to resolve allegations that IBI violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act in connection with certain federal contracts set aside to employ blind workers, the Justice Department has announced.

IBI is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in West Allis, Wisconsin that receives set-aside contracts from federal agencies under the federal government’s Ability One Program. In exchange, IBI agrees to give jobs to workers who are blind or visually-impaired and comply with other contractual requirements.

The settlement resolves allegations that, between 2009 and 2018, IBI misrepresented to the U.S. Ability One Commission when requesting set-aside contracts for furniture design and installation services that it would maintain a 3:1 blind-to-sighted ratio of employees, and that furniture designers and sales representatives working for IBI took impermissible payments and gifts from manufacturers on certain contracts. It also resolves claims that IBI improperly subcontracted a set-aside contract for screen-printed clothing to an entity that did not generally use blind labor.

The Ability One Commission operates under the authority of the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (JWOD Act), which was passed in 1971 to increase employment and training opportunities for persons who are blind or visually impaired, or who have disabilities so severe that they are otherwise unable to work at competitive employment. More than 400 companies participate in the AbilityOne Program and receive set-aside federal contracts in exchange for employing approximately 45,000 people who are blind or have severe disabilities.

Among the allegations resolved by the settlement are claims asserted in a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The lawsuit was filed by Paul Inzeo, formerly a marketing manager at IBI, whose share has not yet been decided.

The settlement also resolves conduct that IBI investigated and disclosed to the United States concerning the receipt of gifts and money by its furniture designers and sales representatives that was not alleged in the whistleblower complaint. It received credit in the settlement for its disclosure, cooperation, and remediation efforts in connection with this conduct.

The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, with assistance from GSA’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the AbilityOne Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability. The lawsuit resolved by the settlement is captioned United States ex rel. Inzeo v. Industries for the Blind, Inc., et al., No. 15-cv-996 (E.D. Wisc.).

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wisconsin-based-nonprofit-pay-19-million-settle-allegations-false-claims-and-kickbacks

October 19, 2020 By cs

Civilian agency contract spending reaches record high in FY20

The novel coronavirus pandemic largely contributed to the increase, Bloomberg Government reports.

Civilian agencies’ contract spending hit a record high of $228 billion in fiscal 2020, an increase of 17% ($33.5 billion) from 2019. The surge in spending is mainly due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Energy departments drove the increase in spending, Bloomberg Government said in a report. Of the $228 billion, 26% or $59.4 billion went to small businesses, a $6.5 billion increase from fiscal 2019.

“In previous years there’s been single digit jumps, so this is a huge jump compared to previous years,” Robert Levinson, senior defense analyst at Bloomberg Government, told Government Executive. He noted that there is a 90-day delay for the Defense Department’s contract spending for security purposes and there is also classified spending that will never be released.

HHS, which spent $41.2 billion in fiscal 2020 in contract obligations, accounted for 44% of the $33.5 billion in overall increased civilian contract spending. The majority of HHS’ spending was for vaccines, research, ventilators and other pandemic-related efforts. Some of these contracts, such as for a public relations campaign to “inspire hope” about the pandemic and new data reporting system, have drawn concern from Democratic lawmakers.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/10/civilian-agency-contract-spending-reaches-record-high-fiscal-2020/169127/

The Defense Department released one of the last major pieces to complete the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program puzzle.

The Joint Acquisition Task Force the Pentagon set up to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going away, even when the pandemic finally does.

On September 14, 2020, the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Case 2019-016 “Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials,” 85 FR 56558, which proposes certain increased and new thresholds for contractors subject to the Buy American Act (BAA).

Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired Inc. (IBI) has agreed to pay $1,938,684.09 to resolve allegations that IBI violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act in connection with certain federal contracts set aside to employ blind workers, the Justice Department has announced.

The novel coronavirus pandemic largely contributed to the increase, Bloomberg Government reports.

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