Commercial Item | The Contracting Education Academy

January 4, 2018 By AMK

The 2018 NDAA in detail

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the fiscal year 2018 (FY18) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law (Pub. L. 115-91).

An annual defense policy bill, the NDAA is a critical piece of legislation for the contracting community because it provides the funding authority for programs and activities of the Department of Defense (DoD), the largest procurer of goods and services within the US government.

In addition, the NDAA is a vehicle for encouraging in some cases, and requiring in others, changes to both DoD and government-wide procurement practices. As the NDAA moved through the legislative process, Dentons and other commentators analyzed proposed provisions, some of which were adopted as written or in a revised form, and many of which were not included in the final bill.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/658624

December 12, 2017 By AMK

Changes to supply chain management and commercial item contracting in FY 2018 NDAA

For Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions, the Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA includes provisions that simplify and others that complicate contractor responsibilities.

On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Senate and House Armed Services Committees announced that they had reached agreement to reconcile the different versions of the National Defense and Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 passed by the Senate and House earlier in the year.

The Senate unanimously approved the compromise legislation on November 16, sending it to President Trump to sign into law. The 2018 National Defense and Authorization Act Conference Report sent to the President includes proposed changes to supply chain management, to the definition of a “subcontractor” and to commercial item contracting that may impact your business.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=238f078d-5398-4cba-ba7b-8fdb3e308575

September 28, 2017 By AMK

Crunch time for acquisition portal in defense bill

As Congress moves to reconcile two versions of the National Defense Authorization Act in the coming weeks, one of the provisions legislators will be considering could significantly alter how federal agencies might buy commercial off the shelf items — eventually including IT products.

If approved, the measure would task the General Services Administration to develop online e-commerce portals that the Defense Department and federal agencies could use to buy basic commercial products.

Existing companies that specialize in office supplies as well as larger e-commerce platforms could create special government-focused marketplaces that buyers could use to obtain basic items.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, first proposed the measure as the Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act in May. It passed with some modifications in the House NDAA.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2017/09/21/ndaa-cots-ecommerce-rockwell.aspx

September 11, 2017 By AMK

GSA relaxes rules to speed contracting for hurricane relief efforts

Eight days after addressing Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the General Services Administration on Thursday pivoted to the Irma storm aimed at Florida, relaxing certain contracting rules to encourage speed and local awards.

Senior Procurement Executive Jeffrey Koses signed a “memorandum raising thresholds for areas included in the Irma declaration response,” a GSA spokeswoman told Government Executive. The Irma memorandum follows an Aug. 29 directive issued in anticipation of rebuilding in the aftermath of the Houston-area flooding from Harvey.

The Harvey memo cited sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation allowing GSA to raise the micropurchase threshold to $20,000 for any contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made in support of the designated disaster areas. “The simplified acquisition threshold is increased to $750,000, or $13,000,000 for commercial items,” the memo to GSA contracting professionals said. The authority extends to any necessary leasing of property.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/09/gsa-relaxes-rules-speed-contracting-hurricane-relief-efforts/140856/

August 31, 2017 By AMK

Pentagon run more like a business? It’s been trying for years

Pentagon officials, at the urging of Congress and successive administrations, has been trying for years to operate more like a business to cut costs and operate more efficiently. They have little to show for those efforts, an analysis by Bloomberg Government shows.

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, the Defense Business Board, which advises the Pentagon on management from a private-sector perspective, urged that the Department of Defense be run “like a modern business.”

However, getting the military’s massive bureaucracy to behave more like a corporation is harder than it looks, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/pentagon-run-like-business-trying-years/

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the fiscal year 2018 (FY18) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law (Pub. L. 115-91).

For Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions, the Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA includes provisions that simplify and others that complicate contractor responsibilities.

As Congress moves to reconcile two versions of the National Defense Authorization Act in the coming weeks, one of the provisions legislators will be considering could significantly alter how federal agencies might buy commercial off the shelf items — eventually including IT products.

Eight days after addressing Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the General Services Administration on Thursday pivoted to the Irma storm aimed at Florida, relaxing certain contracting rules to encourage speed and local awards.

Pentagon officials, at the urging of Congress and successive administrations, has been trying for years to operate more like a business to cut costs and operate more efficiently. They have little to show for those efforts, an analysis by Bloomberg Government shows.

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