We recently wrote about the Small Business Runway Extension Act (Runway Extension Act), which President Trump signed into law on December 17, 2018. Under the Runway Extension Act, for industries with receipts-based size standards, the size of a firm is to be measured based on its average annual gross receipts over the previous five years (extended from the previously used three-year period). Missing from the Runway Extension Act is any explicit directive as to when the new five-year calculation takes effect, . . . Read More
On December 27, 2018, PilieroMazza submitted comments to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s proposed rule regarding changes to the HUBZone Program. The proposed rule outlines a comprehensive overhaul to the program’s current eligibility and compliance requirements.
COMMENTS SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED RULE ON THE HUBZONE PROGRAM, RIN 3245-AG38 On December 27, 2018, PilieroMazza submitted comments to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s proposed rule regarding changes to the HUBZone Program. The proposed rule outlines a comprehensive overhaul to the program’s current eligibility and compliance requirements. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING A Nextgov article discussed the potentially significant impacts the government shutdown may have on government contractors, especially small businesses. The article recommended that contractors have preparations in . . . Read More
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING According to a Bloomberg Government article, more than 30,000 federal contracting opportunities at twenty-eight (28) agencies are coming up for competition in the coming fiscal years. In a webinar, Bloomberg Government identified the top opportunities at nineteen (19) selected agencies, identified 27,751 opportunities at seventeen (17) civilian agencies, and identified 3,281 opportunities at eleven (11) defense agencies. Importantly, however, each agency reports acquisition forecast details differently; some agencies provide more details than others. President Trump signed the Small . . . Read More
Starting October 1, 2018, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) now has jurisdiction over all service-disabled veteran-owned small business (“SDVOSB”) status protests when the procuring agency is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”). Previously, SDVOSB status protests on SDVOSB set-aside solicitations issued by VA were decided by VA. Now, OHA hears all SDVOSB status protests on VA procurements and has recently issued its first decision in an SDVOSB status protest in connection with . . . Read More
On December 17, 2018, President Trump signed the Small Business Runway Extension Act (H.R. 6330) into law . As we discussed in our previous blog , the Small Business Act previously measured a company’s size under the prescribed size standards on a basis of the company’s average annual receipts from the previous three years; the new law extends this time to the previous five years. The change was designed to reduce the impact of rapid-growth years and resulting spikes in revenue that could prematurely eject a . . . Read More
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING A former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Facility Chief pleaded guilty to receiving illegal gratuities. Steven Eric Kremer, a former Chief of the Range and Mission Management Office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) pleaded guilty to receiving gratuities in exchange for official acts performed in his capacity as a government official as well as stealing funds from a government contract. As Chief of the Range and Mission Management Office, Mr. Kremer administered the Range Operations Contract (ROC)—a multi-year . . . Read More
A government shutdown is looming once again. Congress has already passed five of the twelve FY 2019 funding bills, which fund 70% of the government through September 2019, through two vehicles. H.R. 6157 includes funding for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies. H.R. 5895 provides funding for the Departments of Energy, the Interior (Bureau of Reclamation only), Veterans Affairs, and related and independent agencies, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, and the . . . Read More
On December 6, 2018, the Senate passed the Small Business Runway Extension Act (HR 6330) , which amends the Small Business Act by changing the time period for determining a company’s size based on average annual receipts. Initially, the Small Business Act required a company’s compliance with the size standards to be prescribed on the basis of the company’s average annual receipts from the previous three years; the Small Business Runway Extension Act extends this time to the previous five years. The House passed the bill on . . . Read More
On December 4, 2018, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a proposed rule (“Rule”) to implement several provisions of the National Defense Authorization Acts (“NDAA”) of 2016 and 2017 and the Recovery Improvements for Small Entities After Disaster Act of 2015 (“RISE Act”), as well as other clarifying amendments. The Rule will likely garner a lot of attention in the coming weeks, as it proposes a number of sweeping amendments that could have a significant impact on small business government contracting. . . . Read More
