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GSA kicks starts 2021 with an acquisition potpourri

When it comes to federal procurement, the General Services Administration takes no off days.

While the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service employees will never be mistaken for elite athletes — where this concept of no days off comes from — they aren’t wasting any time setting up 2021 to be a busy year for contractors and for new governmentwide acquisition contracts.

In the span of two weeks, GSA released the draft solicitation for Polaris, the small business GWAC to replace the debacle that was Alliant 2 Small Business as well as two requests for information — one for artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, and one to develop a new professional services vehicle.

These initial pieces of market research or acquisition strategy planning come as GSA already is reviewing bids for spots under the 8(a) STARS III GWAC and the ASTRO program. GSA expects to make awards for both of these programs in spring 2021 or thereabouts.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2021/01/gsa-kicks-starts-2021-with-an-acquisition-potpourri/

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GSA proposes to standardize policies on reverse auctions

The General Services Administration (GSA) has proposed revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation on use of reverse auctions by federal agencies, saying that while they have been in common practice for more than 20 years, their use has been inconsistent.

In reverse auctions, multiple vendors compete with one another to win a contract by lowering the offered price.

They generally are used for acquiring commercial products and most often result in the award of a fixed price contract valued less than $150,000 to a small business, a Federal Register notice says.

The notice says GAO reports in 2013 and 2018 found that:

“Confusion exists concerning a lack of documentation about reverse auction service provider fees and their application to federal contracts;

“There is a lack of sufficient data available for agencies to verify actual cost savings resulting from a reverse auction; and

“The potential benefits of reverse auctions are not being maximized, as many reverse auctions are resulting in the receipt of only one offer or a lack of interactive competition amongst offerors.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedweek.com/federal-managers-daily-report/gsa-proposes-to-standardize-policies-on-reverse-auctions/

 

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Court of Appeals issues important decision on application of False Claims Act to set-aside contracts

On December 3, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in United States v. Strock, a ruling that will significantly strengthen the hand of the government, and of qui tam whistleblowers, in False Claims Act cases against companies awarded government set-aside contracts but do not meet the requirements of the particular set-aside.

The contracts at issue in Strock were set aside for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs).

Still, the Court’s reasoning also applies to other types of set-aside contracts, such as small business, women-owned small business, or HUBZone set-asides.  This decision should hearten whistleblowers who have information about fraud in government contracting set-aside programs.

The Facts Of United States v. Strock

The government sued Strock Contracting, its owner Lee Strock, and one of Strock’s employees.  The government alleged that Strock set up a new company called Veteran Enterprises Company (VECO) to bid on SDVOSB-reserved contracts from the Army, Air Force, and Veterans Administration. Strock, however, was not a disabled veteran.  Instead, he recruited another individual, a disabled veteran named Terry Anderson.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/court-appeals-issues-important-decision-application-false-claims-act-to-set-aside

Read the full decision in this case at: https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/36dc4bcd-69b0-4890-b0e2-56e98757e39f/3/doc/19-4331_opn.pdf#xml=https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/36dc4bcd-69b0-4890-b0e2-56e98757e39f/3/hilite/

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New small business rules: Capabilities of small business joint venture members and first-tier subs

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has published a long-awaited rule that made important changes to numerous small business contracting programs and the rules Federal agencies must follow when contracting with small businesses.

These changes went into effect on November 16, 2020.  You can read a summary of the rule here and read the rule itself here.

Here, we take a closer look at changes in the way procuring agencies will have to consider the past performance, experience, security clearances, capabilities, and certifications of small businesses and small business joint ventures.

To understand why the new rule is important, it’s useful to consider the current state of affairs.  When businesses compete for Government contracts, they often create joint ventures or put together subcontractor teams with different companies complementing each other’s capabilities and experience.  In general, procuring agencies have had wide latitude in being able to specify on a procurement-by-procurement basis the extent to which the prime offeror itself must have certain capabilities and experience, and the extent to which the offeror may rely upon subcontractors or joint venture members to fill in any gaps.

There currently is one principal exception to that wide latitude.  When an offeror is a small business joint venture, the procuring agency is required to consider the past performance and experience of the joint venture members (including of any large business mentor joint venture member) as the past performance and experience of the joint venture itself. 15 U.S.C. § 644(q)(1)(C); 13 C.F.R. § 125.8(e) (Dec. 27, 2016).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/government-contracts-procurement-ppp/999586/new-small-business-rules-capabilities-of-small-business-joint-venture-members-and-first-tier-subcontractors

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Army awards 10 prototyping contracts under small business pilot program

The U.S. Army is using a special topics pilot program to shorten the life cycle of military technology development.

The U.S. Army selected 10 projects addressing military technology gaps for prototyping under a small business pilot program meant to speed the development life cycle, according to a press release.

The awards were made using an Army Small Business Technology Transfer, or STTR, pilot program, according to the Nov. 5 announcement. The 10 projects from nine small businesses and partner research institutions were selected from a pool of 22 proposals.

Most of the projects address the Army’s network modernization priority and cover seven special topic areas including position navigation and timing, or PNT, without GPS, edge sensor processing, and interference and jamming of high frequency radios.

The prototyping is the second phase in a three-step pilot program for identifying and addressing warfighter technology gaps that requires small businesses to partner with research institutions like universities or nonprofits, according to the statement. The pilot is meant to get new technology solutions in the hands of warfighters faster, according to a broad agency announcement outlining the program.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/11/army-awards-10-prototyping-contracts-under-small-business-pilot-program/169898/

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