Do 2-track acquisitions create unfair access?

      A recent court case shows the risk of “extra information” shared with some bidders in some federal two-track acquisition strategies. Federal News Network’s Tom Temin and Joe Petrillo discussed the possibility recently regarding a DISA procurement.

      DISA set up unrestricted and small business tracks. Some firms competed in both tracks.

      DISA made unrestricted awards first. Losing bidders got a debriefing with pricing information, and details on how DISA evaluated price and other factors.

      Final offers for the small business track were submitted months later, so it appeared some bidders could take advantage of the information from the debriefings, Temin said. A losing bidder made that allegation in court.

      The court rulings were mixed. Nonetheless, the case suggests firms should be careful in bidding on the later track of a two-track acquisition.

Read more at:
Federal News Network story: https://bit.ly/38V1BQN

GSA awards contracts for e-commerce

      The GSA selected Amazon Business, Fisher Scientific and Overstock.com to be the government’s e-commerce platform providers in the upcoming implementation of commercial platforms purchasing for federal agencies.

      The Commercial Platforms program, authorized under Section 846 of the NDAA of fiscal 2018, allows the GSA to test the use of these no-cost contracts for federal purchases below the micro-purchase threshold of $10,000 for up to three years. The tests will start at a small scale and be refined regularly, GSA said.

Read more at:
GSA press release:https://bit.ly/3epKJ5X

DFARS proposed rule for services contracts

      The DOD is proposing to amend the DFARS to adopt an approach aligned with the rest of the government with regard to collection of data for certain services contracts.

      This rule proposes to revise the DFARS to implement 10 U.S.C. 2330a, as amended by section 812 of the NDAA for FY 2017. It will require contractors to report data in SAM annually for DOD contracts of $3 million or more for logistics management services, equipment related services, knowledge-based services, or electronics and communications services. Comments are due by Aug. 4.

Read more at:
Proposed rule: https://bit.ly/2Zv8a9M

Inside this edition:

Final rule raises threshold for 8(a) sole source justifications

Surveys show small vendors’ COVID19 fears

Follow-up Survey: Impact of COVID-19 on small business contractors

Apply for PPP by Aug. 8

Agencies fall short on oversight of small biz subcontracts: GAO

Changes for 8(a) STARS

Alliant 2 Small Biz canceled

PSC ranks agencies’ forecasts

Judge holds up ANC aid again

Column: Comparing 8(a) STARS II and 8(a) STARS III

Washington Insider:

Updated Coronavirus Resources for Small Business Federal Contractors