The Defense Department will propose turning its printing work over to contractors, DOD Comptroller Dov Zakheim said.

At a Feb. 3 briefing on the 2004 budget, Zakheim said, “Why we should corner the market on printing is beyond anybody’s imagination here, and we want to divest ourselves of that. It’ll save us about a thousand people.”

The change would require congressional approval, he said. The Defense Logistics Agency is responsible for DOD printing.

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SBA is proposing to increase the size standard for the Facilities Support Services industry, NAICS code 561210, to $30 million in average annual receipts, from $6 million.

The proposed rule would also increase the size standard for the sub-category of Base Maintenance to $30 million from $23 million.

SBA said the increase is justified because of the growing size of contracts for facilities support services and the small share of those contract dollars going to small firms. The agency said small businesses received only 12% of the dollar value of facilities support contracts over the past 10 years, and two-thirds of those contracts went to 8(a) firms.

The proposed rule is FR Doc. 03-2455, published in the Feb. 3 Federal Register. Comments are due by April 4.

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Agencies will be ordered to reduce the number of purchase cards issued to their employees, said Mitch Daniels Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget.

At a Jan. 30 briefing, Daniels said the number of cards could be reduced by at least 10%.

The cutbacks follow reports of widespread abuse of the government-issued credit cards.

OMB said at some agencies, one-fourth of employees carry the cards. At OMB itself, there are only three cards for 500 employees.

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A federal grand jury in Alexandria, VA, has indicted Robert L. Neal Jr., former director of the Defense Department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and an associate on charges of conspiracy, extortion and money laundering.

Neal and his former executive assistant, Francis Delano Jones Jr., were arrested in October in connection with an alleged bribery scheme that netted them more than $1 million. (SAA, 11/1/02)

The indictment alleges that more than a half-dozen contractors either paid bribes or helped to carry out the scheme. None of the business people has been named.

Lawyers for Neal and Jones could not be reached.

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A janitorial contractor has pleaded guilty to making payoffs to a Navy contract specialist in return for contracts at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Joe Barahona of Great Falls, VA, was sentenced Jan. 27 to one year in prison and a $30,000 fine following his guilty plea in Greenbelt, MD, federal court.

Barahona, owner of Able Services Contractors, made the payoffs to Charles Plis, a former supervisory contract specialist for the Navy, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland said.

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Waivers of SBA’s non-manufacturer rule have only a limited impact on procurement under the 8(a) program, the General Accounting Office said.

The waivers are granted when the government determines that no domestic small manufacturer can deliver a product under terms of a contract that is set aside for small or 8(a) firms; under a waiver, the product can be purchased from a large manufacturer.

GAO said waivers accounted for just $27 million in government purchases in fiscal 2001, 4.4% of total purchases of supplies and equipment under the 8(a) program.

SBA approved waivers on 23 individual contracts in 2001. In addition, there were 85 class waivers, covering product categories in which no small manufacturer was able to supply the product.