Fewer protests to GAO in FY2017

47% of cases “effective”

      The number of bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office dropped by 7% in fiscal 2017, but the effectiveness of the protests increased, according to the GAO annual report.

      For a protest to be effective it is either sustained by the GAO or results in some corrective action by the agency.

      The effectiveness was 47%, the highest in over five years.

      There were 2,596 protests filed, and 581 decisions, of which 99 were sustained, for a 17% sustain rate; and 273 decisions were effective.

      The high level of effectiveness suggests that it’s bad timing to begin charging $350 in January 2018 for filing such protests, according to Steve Koprince, government contracts attorney.

      “With bid protests succeeding at a nearly 50% clip, why does the protest “reform” debate seem to center almost entirely on discouraging contractors to protest, rather than on decreasing the number of flawed source selection evaluations?” Koprince wrote in his blog recently.

More information: GAO report: http://goo.gl/VW3Szf
Koprince blog: http://goo.gl/EN9TnB

Shutdown maybe; CR likely

HUBZone map frozen until 2020

DHS buys foreign-made uniforms

Fewer protests to GAO in FY2017

Column: Embezzlement--Protecting Your Assets

Washington Insider: