The Senate has voted to repeal the Form 1099 reporting requirement that had outraged many small businesses. The House approved repeal earlier, so the bill is awaiting President Obama’s signature.

Current law requires businesses to file a Form 1099 for all payments made for goods, in addition to services, that cost $600 or more, beginning in 2012.

SBA has not yet approved third-party certifiers for the woman-owned set-aside program. However, self-certification is being accepted at www.sba.gov/wosb.

The approval of third-party certifiers should be completed within “several months,” according to Michele Chang, senior adviser to SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. In a March 31 Web chat, she said many agencies are “teeing up opportunities” and she expects the first set-aside contracts to be awarded in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation councils have adopted rules for the program, the final step before agencies could begin setting aside contracts. In addition, the Online Registrations and Certifications website has been updated to accept listings for woman-owned firms.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has created a review team to look into contracting practices and safeguards against fraud. He acted after a Navy official and the president of a contractor were charged in February in connection with an alleged kickback scheme.

Speaking to a Navy League conference at National Harbor, MD, on April 11, Mabus said the review team will “investigate and recommend improvements in the contracting process to protect against [fraud] in the future,” National Journal reported.

In February a criminal complaint in Rhode Island federal court accused a Navy systems engineer and the president of contractor Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow of engaging in a kickback conspiracy. The company’s contracts have since been canceled.

GSA plans to conduct annual performance reviews of contractors on its Alliant governmentwide acquisition contract. The agency’s inspector general said GSA is not reviewing performance on each task order, as required by the Office of Management and Budget.

“Annual task order assessments would provide essential feedback on contractor performance to both the client agencies and the program office,” the IG report says. GSA currently conducts past performance reviews only once every five years, when the contract option comes up.

Steve Kempf, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, said the agency is developing an action plan to implement the IG recommendations.

A bipartisan group of senators has proposed legislation to improve security in federal buildings. The SECURE Facilities Act, S. 772, would require the Federal Protective Service to hire more personnel to supervise contract security guards and improve the guards’ training.

“Poor management, serious budget shortfalls, and operational challenges have diminished FPS’ effectiveness and undermined public trust in the agency,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-CT, one of the bill’s sponsors. “FPS guards were famously caught sleeping on the job, putting an infant in its carrier through an X-ray machine and failing to detect bomb-making materials on investigators who passed through security.”