Report urges 18 actions to help small biz federal contractors

      A new report by the Bipartisan Policy Center, Goldman Sachs and Center Forward is calling on Congress to reform small business federal contracting with a series of 18 actions, possibly to be included in the Small Business Administration reauthorization legislation, the report says. The 18 recommendations are:

• Establish specific annual goals for new small business vendor entrants;
• End “double-dipping”: If a contractor has more than one certification, such as a woman-owned firm in a HUBZone, count the award for one program only;
• Provide resources to SBA to raise WOSB and HUBZone small business contracting;
• Raise the Simplified Acquisition Threshold to $250,000;
• Expand “Past Performance” possibly to include private sector performance;
• Streamline all small business certifications through one central system;
• Assist would-be federal contractors in obtaining training before becoming certified;
• Create processes for training and counseling new contractors entering the federal market, and for those who soon will lose their “small” designations;
• Lower specific bonding thresholds or strengthen the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program;
• Increase staffing and resources at SBA and for contracting officers across agencies;
• Improve data collection in the electronic subcontracting reporting system (eSRS) regarding prime contractors and subcontractors;
• Enforce payment schedules for primes and subcontractors;
• Enhance the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) regarding subcontracting plans and contracting officers;
• Modernize the 8(a) program;
• Remove the need for SBA approvals for 8(a) mergers and acquisitions;
• Increase 8(a) sole-source thresholds;
• Order a congressional oversight inquiry into category management; and
• Create a cross-agency task force to evaluate the small business impact of “best-in-class” contracts and GWACs.

More information:
Report: https://bit.ly/36jxPVa

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