The Government Accountability Office experienced a 5% increase in bid protests in fiscal 2012, with 2,475 cases filed, the agency said in an annual report.

There were 2,353 cases filed in fiscal 2011, by contrast.

The GAO said it upheld the protests in 106 of the cases last year, which was 18.6% of the 570 cases deemed to have merit.

The GAO also said the Veterans Affairs Department declined to follow its recommendations in three cases involving small businesses last year.

The GAO said it sustained protests finding that the VA acted contrary to law when it used federal supply schedule procedures without first properly considering whether veteran-owned (or service-disabled veteran-owned) small businesses were capable of meeting the requirements at a reasonable price.

More Information: GAO annual bid protest report http://goo.gl/ePCZd

Federal employee unions and watchdog groups are pressing Congress to reduce the current cap on non-Defense Department contractor pay to $400,000.

The current cap on reimbursable contractor pay is $763,029.

“Due to concerns about both fiscal responsibility and fairness, we believe it is important to reduce the compensation priced and/or reimbursed under U.S. government prime and subcontracts to federal contractor employees,” stated a letter from the American Federation of Government Employees, National Treasury Employees Union, Economic Policy Institute, Project on Government Oversight and OMB Watch.

Small and large federal contractors alike are reporting added costs as a result of the proliferation of multiple-award contracts, according to the Coalition for Government Procurement.

The coalition recently surveyed 26 contractors. Nearly a third were small.

Of the small vendors, 86% stated that participating in contracts offering the same or similar services as their GSA Schedules added to their costs of doing business with the government.

To support the duplicative contracts, the vendors were making duplicative investments in monitoring bids, submissions and awards; multiple reporting requirements; legal reviews; capture management and sales; marketing materials; and subcontractor management, among others, the coalition said.

More information: CGP survey published by Federal News Radio http://goo.gl/97Dqf

The Air Force inappropriately authorized $102.4 million in performance-based payments and paid nearly $50,000 in additional processing costs for a global positioning device contract, according to the agency’s Office of Inspector General.

The inspector general alleged that the payment structure did not meet Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements.

More information: Inspector General’s report http://goo.gl/GqlBW