Bill addresses payments for contract change orders

      House Small Business Committee member Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, debuted the Small Business Payment for Performance Act, HR 2594, to assist small business federal contractors in getting paid for contract change orders in a timely manner.

     According to a news release from the committee, the bill, if passed, would allow vendors to submit a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA), an increase in fees, to an agency. The contractor may then bill the agency for any actual change order work completed, while the REA is pending. The agency must pay 50% of the billed amount immediately.

      Currently, federal agency payments for change orders are often delayed, which hurts small businesses, Fitzpatrick says in the release.

More information: House Small Business Committee release: http://goo.gl/tdzcvC

SBA regulatory events

      The SBA has set up two Regulatory Roundtables to get small business input on reducing regulations. The events are scheduled for June 7 in Baton Rouge, LA, and June 8 in New Orleans, LA.

      The effort is part of President Trump’s drive to cut regulation.

Independent cost estimates

      The GAO made five recommendations to increase use of independent government cost estimates on the potential costs of contracts.

     The GAO said some agencies that spend the most on service contracts are not using the estimates, and may have insufficient guidance.

More information: GAO Report: https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-398

Confidence up in survey

      A survey of federal contractors found that confidence in future sales was up by 5% in comparison to the same time period in 2016.

     The survey of 424 companies was performed by Onvia. The increased confidence likely was due to moving beyond the uncertainty of the 2016 elections.

More information: Onvia survey report: http://goo.gl/Aw3pwc

GAO sides with vendor

     The GAO found that the National Institutes of Health had wrongly excluded a vendor from being considered for the “CIO-SP3” contract. NIH should have let the SBA review the vendor’s alleged lack of health-related experience, GAO said, according to an analysis by Law360.

More information: Law360 analysis: http://goo.gl/GKZHf0

Trump calls for big budget shifts

GSA gets five new appointees

Set-aside opportunities on the rise

House passes IT modernization legislation

Column: New option for past performance ratings

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