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December 28, 2020 By cs

Vendors, consultants describe an increase in ‘bullying’ tactics by GSA to get lower schedule prices

The General Services Administration’s schedules program brings in more than $38 billion in revenue each year.

It’s one of the most well-known acquisition programs in the country with a reach across more than 100 agencies, state and local governments and the private sector companies. If a company wants to play in the federal market, usually their first step is to get on the schedule.

This is why recent actions by some GSA contracting officers trying to drive down prices, particularly for services, that some say to an unreasonable level is causing so much concern and eliciting words like “bullying” and “holding hostage” from those vendors facing this pressure that has re-emerged over the last four to six months.

Multiple vendors as well as consultants, lawyers and a major GSA-focused trade association representing hundreds of schedule holders say the pendulum has swung too far in how the Federal Acquisition Service is requiring vendors to renegotiate prices, with some being reduced by as much as 40%.

“We are getting our next five years on the schedule and [were] just finishing our 10 year[s] in total. In our entire time on the schedule, we’ve never gotten an economic price adjustment so we have not increased our rates since 2009 or 2010. GSA deemed our rates fair and reasonable at the time,” said one vendor executive, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. “When we recently went to modify our schedule contract, the GSA contracting officer said our prices were no longer fair and reasonable and asked us to reduce five of our rates. That just shocked us. We have multiple blanket purchase agreements and other contracts against these rates so for us to back track was unthinkable.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/12/vendors-consultants-describe-an-increase-in-bullying-tactics-by-gsa-to-get-lower-schedule-prices/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: e-signature, eMod, eOffer, Federal Supply Schedule, GSA, GSA Schedule, MAS, modification, multiple award contract, offer, Schedules

November 25, 2020 By cs

Employee of government contractor pleads guilty to fraud and kickback charges

An employee of a government contractor had pled guilty to his involvement in a scheme to overbill a contract administered by the General Services Administration (GSA) by approximately $1.25 million, and solicit and receive kickbacks from a subcontractor in exchange for providing that subcontractor valuable contract modifications.

Elmer Baker of Gulf Breeze, Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute and four counts of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  Sentencing will be scheduled for a later date.

According to admissions made in connection with the plea agreement:

  • Baker served as the project manager for his company on the contract administered by the GSA.
  • After his company awarded a subcontract to a construction company for work on the facility, Baker began receiving kickbacks in the form of meals, golf sessions, vacations, and other things of value.
  • In or around 2015, Baker began demanding monetary kickbacks that were valued at 10 percent of the amount of each of the subcontract modifications that he awarded the subcontractor.
  • Baker sent the subcontractor fake invoices to make it appear as though the payments he was receiving were for legitimate work, and he set up a shell company to receive the payments.
  • Additionally, Baker took the subcontract estimates provided to him and illegally inflated them in his requests to the GSA.
  • Over the course of several subcontract modifications, Baker defrauded the GSA out of approximately $1.25 million.

Prosecution of his case was handled by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, the nation’s leading prosecuting authority on government procurement fraud and corruption matters.

The GSA Office of Inspector General, FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the State Department Office of Inspector General were in charge of investigating this case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/employee-government-contractor-pleads-guilty-fraud-and-kickback-charges

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: abuse, Anti-Kickback Act, bribe, bribery, FBI, fraud, GSA, IG, kickback, modification, OIG, State Dept., wire fraud

November 10, 2020 By cs

GSA preparing switch to e-signature for Multiple Award Schedule offers and mods

Contract holders will also see new security measures being implemented in the near future for eOffer and eMod.

In less than one month, contract holders on the General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule will be able to sign offers and contract modifications digitally using DocuSign. The move will come ahead of more changes that will bring additional security to two contract management portals.

On November 30, GSA will be turning on the ability to electronically sign documents in eOffer and eMod, which will become the standard method going forward. But the transition means contract holders need to prepare.

“This change to DocuSign aligns with GSA’s overall IT modernization efforts to support security and provide a solution that is legally recognized internationally,” GSA officials wrote in a post on Interact.

The post notes there will be some downtime during the transition, meaning vendors will “not be able to submit new offers and requests for modifications in eOffer and eMod” from November 25 through 29. That said, vendors will still be able to start the process for new offers and modifications—just not submit them—and will be able to work on tasks already in process.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/10/gsa-preparing-switch-esignature-multiple-award-schedule-offers-and-modifications/169653/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: e-signature, eOffer, Federal Supply Schedule, GSA, GSA Schedule, MAS, modification, multiple award contract, offer, Schedules

October 26, 2020 By cs

Learn how the government administers contracts during week of Dec. 7th

Before the year’s end, you have the opportunity to attend a virtual course at Georgia Tech that comprehensively covers the federal contract administration process.
The course — Contract Administration in the FAR (CON 090-4) — begins Monday, Dec. 7 and concludes Friday, Dec. 11, 2020.  The course is being offered entirely on-line.  Registration details are at: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-4-contract-administration-far.
Students participate virtually in our complete, on-line version of CON 090-4, covering all aspects of Contract Administration.
Who Should Attend
  • Government contracting officials will learn not only the rules but the best practices in contract administration. And, this course satisfies required FAC-C and DAWIA certification programs.
  • Business people, including those to aspire to become federal contractors, will learn how to use the power of being an incumbent to win future contracts as well as how to protect contractual interests.
How You Will Benefit

You will learn:

  • The fundamental concepts of government contract administration.
  • The rights of the parties when contract performance is not timely.
  • Both the government’s and the contractor’s rights when contract performance comes into question.
  • The policies and procedures for preparing and processing contract modifications.
  • How to apply the requirements of applicable contract clauses in various contracting scenarios.
  • The applicable payment clauses and invoicing procedures.
  • The policies and procedures for filing and processing contract disputes and appeals.
  • The policies and procedures pertaining to the complete or partial termination of contracts for the convenience of the government or for default.
  • All pertinent parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
Course Content
  • Contract administration basics
  • Contract modifications
  • Administration of selected terms and conditions
  • Delays
  • Quality assurance
  • Payment and cost allowability
  • Disputes and appeals
  • Terminations
  • Closeout
Materials

Each student works with a Student Guide, exercises, updated supplemental information, and exclusive access to web-based student resources.

Additional Information

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech (The Academy) is an approved equivalency training provider to the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI).  Our courses satisfy both the FAC-C and the DAWIA certification programs.  The coursework also provides students the opportunity to earn continuing education unit credits (CEUs) for acquisition and government contracting professionals as well as business professionals working for the government or pursuing opportunities in the federal contracting arena.

CON 090-4 is the fourth of four modules in the CON 090 course series entitled Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals.  The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech offers the entire CON 090 series in four, one-week classes.  Each module stands on its own, allowing students multiple opportunities throughout the year to complete the entire CON 090 course. .  Because of Georgia Tech’s unique instructional approach, the four modules can be taken in any order.

More Information and To Register

For more information on this course, please visit: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-4-contract-administration-far

Filed Under: Academy News Tagged With: allowability, appeal, closeout, CON 090, CON 090-4, contract administration, contract dispute, contract payments, contractor performance, DAU, DAWIA, FAC-C, FAR, Georgia Tech, modification, quality assurance, termination

May 13, 2020 By cs

DoD to deliver $3 billion in accelerated contractor payments over coming weeks

Just over a month ago, the Pentagon told its contracting officers and contract administrators to boost the amount of money it pays vendors in the form of progress payments as one way to increase their cash flow amidst a sagging economy.  And the dollars have indeed started flowing.

As of last week, DoD had made $1.2 billion in additional progress payments because of the higher rates — which rose from 80% to 90% of the total contract value for large companies, and from 90% to 95% in the case of small firms. Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment told reporters she expected the figure to rise to $3 billion in “the next week or two.”

For context, the department’s outlays for contracts are about $25 billion in total during an average month, making the $3 billion in accelerated payments a not-insubstantial sum. Lord said the added progress payments happened across 1,400 separate contracts, mostly because of a mass-modification the Defense Contract Management Agency processed to boost payment rates.

However, one open question — in the case of large contracts — is how quickly bigger firms are passing the advance payments down through their supply chains. Those figures, Lord said, are more difficult to track.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2020/05/dod-to-deliver-3b-in-accelerated-contractor-payments-over-coming-weeks/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized.  Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Accelerate, acquisition workforce, advance payment, coronavirus, COVID-19, DCMA, DoD, modification, pandemic, payments, progress payments, prompt payment, readiness, small business

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