GAO Finds That Federal Agencies Have Made Few SBIR Awards to Small Businesses Majority-Owned by Multiple Venture Capital Operating Companies, Hedge Funds, or Private Equity Firms
The purposes of the Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) program include, among other things, the use of small businesses to meet federally funded R&D needs and the fostering and encouragement of participation by SDBs and WOSBs in technological innovation. Federal agencies with obligations of more than $100 million for extramural R&D activities (that is, R&D conducted by non-federal employees outside of federal facilities) must establish an SBIR program and are required to spend a percentage of their extramural R&D obligations . . . Read More
Are You Complying with All Applicable Procurement Requirements?
Entering into contracts with the federal government requires contractors to comply with a significant number of requirements, including statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements. And, under the False Claims Act, the penalties for failing to comply with those requirements can be steep. In fiscal year 2018, there was a total of $2.88 billion in settlements and judgments in False Claims Act cases. That $2.88 billion includes settlements and judgments for procurement-related fraud cases brought under the False Claims Act. Most contractors . . . Read More
Buyer Beware: Outsourcing Labor Puts You at Risk of Prevailing Wage Violations
Recently, a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation found that four federal contractors were responsible for paying 53 current and former employees a total of $255,474 for violating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA). DOL determined the contractors failed to pay the correct prevailing wages and fringe benefits. In this case, the prime contractor subcontracted with a temporary staffing company that failed to pay cleaning service crews in accordance with DBRA requirements. The temporary employees were misclassified and not paid the . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for March 8, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) report on high-risk areas. Mr. Dodaro’s testimony explained that the GAO’s high-risk program has focused attention on government operations with greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that are in need of transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. The GAO’s 2019 High Risk Report, among other things, identified two . . . Read More
Is Cyber Insurance Worthless in the Age of Quasi-State-Sponsored Hacking?
I’m sure everyone has heard it before: commentators, pundits, and even members of the 809 Panel have stated that “we are at war!” Most of these claims revolve less around ground combat or air battles than the fact that more countries are investing in and deploying cyber assets to destroy not just the defense networks of other countries, but their economic systems as well. Thus, it stands to reason that some of the cyber threats seen in the wild are . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for March 1, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING The Department of Defense (DoD) updated its list of product categories for which the Federal Prison Industries’ (FPI) share of the DoD market is greater than 5%, as required by statute. The product categories and the products within each of the identified product categories must be procured using competitive procedures in accordance with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 208.602-70. Contracting officers must consider a timely offer from FPI for any of the product categories on the . . . Read More
Small Business Subcontractor Recertifications
I spoke at the TRI-Association Small Business Advisory Panel (TRIAD) Winter Meeting a couple weeks ago in Nashville, and a number of attendees asked me questions about how often a large prime contractor must require its small business subcontractors to recertify size/status during the term of a subcontract. SBA’s regulations and the FAR indicate that a subcontractor’s status for a particular subcontract is established at the time the subcontractor submits its offer for the subcontract, and a prime contractor may . . . Read More
Jon Williams to present at SYNNEX Diversity Alliance Program
Jon Williams, partner in our Government Contracts and Small Business practice groups, will be the featured speaker at the SYNNEX Corporation’s Diversity Partner event in Charleston, SC on February 27, 2019. He will be providing an update on the Federal Small Business Programs discussing recent legislative and regulatory changes impacting government contractors.
Legal Advisor Newsletter – First Quarter 2019
Introducing PilieroMazza’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Managing Cyber Risks in M&A Transactions Hackers Are No Match for Employee Missteps When Hackers Attack: Disclosure Obligations and Litigation Risks When You Suffer a Data Breach Data Breaches and Date Rights: How the Rights of You and Your Customers Are Impacted
The Weekly Update for February 22, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest filed by Ekagra Partners, LLC challenging the terms of a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the General Services Administration (GSA). In its protest, Ekagra Partners argued the solicitation for the OASIS Small Business on-ramp, which included terms that improperly restricted competition by limiting the ways in which a small business joint venture could form teams to submit a proposal. The GAO found that the solicitation’s limitation on the ability of . . . Read More