HUBZone vendors weigh in on proposed rule

      The SBA’s recent proposal to overhaul the HUBZone program by redefining basic terms such as HUBZone “employee” and HUBZone “principal office” is getting a lot of attention with more than 60 comments received so far. All comments are due by Feb. 14.

      The provision to allow HUBZone firms to recertify once a year is the provision that potentially has the most impact, according to comments submitted by the HUBZone Contractors National Council.

      “Annual recertification largely overshadows the other proposed changes. We see it as a game changer,” the council wrote in its comments.

      The annual recertification may have the result of making other proposed changes moot. For example, “the complexity of proving the ‘attempt to maintain’ could be rendered largely unnecessary other than at the time of recertification,” the council wrote in its comments. That is a good thing if it allows simplified compliance, the group added

      At the same time, if compliance is only checked once a year, the council expressed concern “that bad actors could take advantage of the one-year eligibility by hiring employees at the beginning of the certification and laying them off until time for recertification.”

Read more at: Proposed rule and comments: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=SBA-2018-0005-0001

Another gov’t shutdown may be less likely

      Despite President Trump’s threats of another shutdown if Congress does not fund his $5.7 billion wall, congressional and industry members at this time say another government shutdown seems fairly unlikely.

      The prospect of having another shutdown “is not popular,” Ann Sullivan, president of Madison Services Group, which advocates on behalf of HUBZone and Women-Owned firms.

      Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, famously has said he dislikes repeated shutdowns because you learn nothing from “the second kick of a mule.” On Jan. 29, he said he would do “whatever works” to avoid another shutdown and to avoid a national emergency declaration.

Read more at:
WSB Radio story: https://bit.ly/2WtbSgw.

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