Set-Aside Alert news analysis:

Bold ideas, big reactions

‘Shocking’ or ‘Let’s try this’?

      The sweeping recommendations of the Sect. 809 advisory panel to radically change commercial procurements at the Defense Dept. by eliminating most small business set-asides have garnered strong reactions.

      Calling it a “shocking proposal,” Steven Koprince, government contracting attorney in Lawrence, KS, in a lengthy blog post, urged small contractors to suit up for a fight.

      “For small government contractors, this recommendation is the policy equivalent of a five-alarm fire,” Koprince wrote. “Small contractors may need to fight hard to save the set-aside system."

     "Get ready for a battle”, he added.

      He came down particularly hard on the idea of replacing small business set-asides with a 5% price preference.

      “This may be the single worst government contracting idea I’ve ever seen,” Koprince wrote.

      Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, suggests in a blog post that the proposed overhaul of DOD commercial buys is “elaborate” and that similar goals could be achieved by greater use of the General Services Administration’s Multiple-Awards schedules program.

      Some industry participants reacted more positively. Corbin Evans, director of regulatory policy for the National Defense Industrial Association, said advance payments to small vendors would be significant. They were provided during President Obama’s term but have been allowed to lapse.

      “We are constantly hearing about the need for steady cash flow, and providing advanced payments for small businesses would go a long way,” Evans told WashingtonExec.

      Steve Kelman, a former White House procurement policy chief, worries that the proposed changes might increase favoritism. But, since there also would be increased transparency, Kelman says DOD should give the recommendations a chance. “Let’s try this for a few years at least and see what happens,” he wrote in FCW.

More information:
Kelman column in FCW: https://bit.ly/2sJojqL
Waldron column on Federal News Network: https://bit.ly/2SgNsay
WashingtonExec story: https://bit.ly/2DEgadB
Steve Koprince blog entry: https://bit.ly/2Rkg2Dy

(URLs in Set-Aside Alert have been shortened by the bit.ly URL shortener)

Contractors still reeling from shutdown

Vendors seek help from Hill

Bold ideas, big reactions

Velazquez bills pass House

Filing a post-shutdown REA?

Column: Your Capability Statement

Washington Insider: