Supreme Court to consider VA set-asides

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Kingdomware Technologies Inc. claiming that the Veterans Affairs Department is not considering enough veteran-owned small businesses to compete for contracts.

Kingdomware alleges that the VA has not properly implemented the Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006. Under that law, the VA must set aside contracts for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) if there are two or more SDVOSBs willing and able to perform the work.

However, the Federal Circuit Court ruled in June 2014 that under certain conditions, the VA is exempt from that requirement.

Kingdomware, an SDVOSB, filed a complaint over the award of a federal supply schedule contract to a non-veteran-owned vendor in 2012. Kingdomware sued and lost in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The Federal Circuit also ruled against Kingdomware and in favor of the VA: “The (VA) Secretary has complied with his statutory mandate to both set goals and meet them, and, accordingly, the VA contracting officer’s decision not to set aside the contract at issue was not arbitrary, capricious or contrary to the law,” the judge wrote.

The VA agreed with the court, saying that as long as SDVOSB contracting goals are met, there is discretion under the 2006 law. The VA has met and exceeded all goals for contracts with SDVOSB since 2006; in fiscal 2014, 18% of VA contracts went to SDVOSBs.

Kingdomware has accused the VA of using the supply schedule for convenience and of avoiding looking at SDVOSBs, according to an analysis by Law360.

More Information: Law360 analysis http://goo.gl/2Wtjqx

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