GWACs & BiCs hearing (Part 2): How to improve

      On June 14, the House Small Business Committee explored whether the government’s Category Management initiatives are harming small business contracting. (See June 24, 2022 edition of Set-Aside Alert).

      The committee also heard testimony from several small business owners and a government contracting attorney on how to improve the situation.

      Recommendations included:

• Standardizing formal and legal definitions of Best-in-Class contracts;
• Creating governmentwide IDIQ contracts with an explicit technical focus;
• Encouraging stand-alone contracts with a specific purpose;
• Eliminate double counting of small business awards;
• Expanding sole-source opportunities;
• Reserving contracts for all small business teams;
• Creating more frequent on-ramps; and
• Eliminating self-scoring on contract vehicles.

Read more:
Committee Hearing notice: https://bit.ly/3R0hISH

DOD to ban certain non-disclosure agreements

      DOD officials are proposing a new rule that would not allow DOD contracts to be awarded to vendors that require their employees to sign certain non-disclosure agreements.

      Specifically, the proposed rule would prohibit contractors from requiring employees to sign statements that would prevent or restrict employees from “lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a DOD contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of DOD authorized to receive such information.”

      Comments are due by Aug. 22

      The proposal implements Section 883 of the NDAA for fiscal 2021. Vendors would need to tell employees about the limits on any confidentiality agreements, and to certify compliance with the rule when bidding on a DOD contract.

Read more at:
Proposed rule: https://bit.ly/3Ib6Ehx

House panel OKs $37B more for DOD in NDAA

      On June 22, the House Armed Services Committee approved its version of the NDAA for fiscal 2023, which includes $37 billion more than the request. Details were not immediately available.

Inside this edition:

SBA’s Hidalgo outlines actions for small biz fed’l contracting

It’s the busy season again

Certify “fully functioning”

Polaris SB RFP reissued

Bona fide place-of-biz extension

House passes small biz bills

Final STARS III awards made

Column: Knowing Your Company’s Value is a Key to Growth--And Exit!

Washington Insider:

Coronavirus Update