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SBA Update: New Rule Makes Major Changes to Eligibility and Certification Requirements for HUBZone Program, PilieroMazza Client Alert, Meghan F. Leemon, Emily A. Reid
As PilieroMazza noted recently here, on December 17, 2024, the Small Business Administration (SBA or the Agency) published a final rule that will make changes to its regulations for the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program and clarify certain program policies. This final rule goes into effect on January 16, 2025, and “will apply to existing contracts.” PilieroMazza discusses key high-level takeaways on changes to the HUBZone Program. Read more here.
SBA Update: SBA Clarifies Protégés’ Past Performance and/or Experience Exception, PilieroMazza Client Alert, Antonio R. Franco, Meghan F. Leemon
As PilieroMazza has been reporting, the Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a final rule updating and clarifying many regulations that impact small businesses. The revised regulations cover a wide range of programs, including the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program. One clarification addresses how agencies should credit the past performance and experience of protégés when bidding as part of a joint venture with its mentor. The rule seeks to clarify the extent to which an agency may require a protégé to submit past performance and/or experience information. PilieroMazza discusses the Mentor-Protégé Program and how the SBA has clarified the rule surrounding past performance and experience. Read more here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Final Rules:
On January 3, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published three final rules. The rules will be effective January 17, 2025. The Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-03 Introduction is available here, and the Small Entity Compliance Guide is available here.
- Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment. This rule amends the FAR to implement recommendations from the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee and to improve consistency of suspension and debarment procedures. These changes are intended to enhance transparency and consistency regarding the procedures and to allow contractors to understand the procedures. The rule is available here.
- Rerepresentation of Size and Socioeconomic Status. This rule amends the FAR to implement the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) regulatory changes to require rerepresentation of size and socioeconomic status for orders set aside under certain multiple award contracts. The rule is available here.
- Subcontracting to Puerto Rican and Covered Territory Small Businesses. This rule amends the FAR to implement the SBA’s regulatory changes to add incentives to U.S. territories under the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program. Entities are not required to submit subcontracting plans as subcontractors. The rule is available here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Proposed Rule: Protests of Orders Under Certain Multiple-Award Contracts (MACs)
On January 15, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule and request for comments regarding changes to the FAR. Comments close March 17, 2025. The proposed rule will amend the FAR to clarify protest rights for orders set aside under MACs that contracting officers, when exercising statutory grant of discretion, cannot alter existing protest rights. The proposed rule is available here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Proposed Rule: Small Business Participation on Certain Multiple-Award Contracts (MACs)
On January 15, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule and request for comments regarding changes to the FAR. Comments close March 17, 2025. This proposed rule will amend the FAR to update market research, acquisition planning, small business specialist coordination, and the use of set-asides for MACs. This proposed rule implements recommendations of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and is intended to expand the use of small business set-asides, increase coordination during acquisition planning, and provide additional criteria to consider or address in the documentation provided to the Small Business Administration. The proposed rule is available here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Proposed Rule: Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) in Federal Acquisition
On January 15, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule and request for comments regarding changes to the FAR. Comments close March 17, 2025. This proposed rule will amend the FAR to implement the Preventing OCI in Federal Acquisition Act. This rule proposes updated definitions, guidance, and examples related to OCI and creates solicitation provisions and contract clauses to avoid or mitigate OCI. Contracting officers will be permitted to consider professional standards and procedures to prevent OCI to which an offeror or contractor is subject. The proposed rule is available here.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Press Release: Biden-Harris Administration Awards Record-Breaking $183B in Federal Contracts to Small Businesses, Marking Fourth Consecutive Year of Growth
On January 10, SBA announced that small businesses received more than $183 billion in prime contracts from the federal government – 28.8% of all federal contracting dollars – in fiscal year 2024, which ended September 30, 2024. Prime contracting awards exceed the federal government’s 23% small business contracting goal and broke last year’s record of $178 billion in prime contracts going to small businesses. Read more here.
Upcoming Government Contract Presentations
SEMINAR: Effective Marketing Strategies for Set-Asides, January 21, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
SEMINAR: Nuts, Bolts, and Beyond: To Be a Government Contractor, January 28, 2025, Eric Valle
WEBINAR: SBA Rule Will Affect the Value of Some Small Businesses: New GovCon Mergers and Acquisition Rules EXPLAINED, January 29, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV
TRAINING: Unlocking the Secrets of Debriefings, Government Evaluation of Proposals and Protests, February 5, 2025, Aaron A. Kor, Eric Valle
TRAINING: Joint Venture and Mentor-Protege Bidding Strategies, February 6, 2025, Peter B. Ford, Meghan F. Leemon
CONFERENCE: Meet the Experts, February 11, 2025, Meghan F. Leemon
CONFERENCE: Subcontracting Essentials for 8(a) Contractors, February 12, 2025, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV, Nichole D. Atallah, Meghan F. Leemon
TRAINING: Unlocking the Secrets of Debriefings, Government Evaluation of Proposals and Protests, March 13, 2025, Katherine B. Burrows, Eric Valle
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & TECHNOLOGY RIGHTS
Better Late Than Never: DOD Amends DFARS Implementing SBIR/STTR Data Rights, What it Means for Small Business, PilieroMazza Client Alert, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV, Joseph P. Loman
On December 18, 2024, the Defense Department (DOD) issued its Final Rule (Rule) amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement the data rights portions of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Policy Directive (the Policy Directive). The Rule is effective on January 17, 2025. To maximize protection of SBIR/STTR data rights, government contractors should: (1) carefully review their contracts and subcontracts to identify the applicable version of the SBIR/STTR data rights clause; (2) assert data rights for technical data and computer software developed or generated under Phases I-III of SBIR/STTR contracts or subcontracts; and (3) mark such data and software with the appropriate restrictive legends. Read more here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Proposed Rule Withdrawal: Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting
On January 8, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and OFPP withdrew the proposed rule, Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting, and the related Government-wide policy, upon which the proposed rule was based. The withdrawal is available here.
EEOC: The Federal Gender Pay Gap Gets Worse with Age, Government Executive
The gender pay gap is much more pronounced among older federal workers than their younger counterparts, according to a new report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The discrepancy between what men and women make in the federal government is substantially larger for those over 40 years old than of their younger counterparts. Read more here.
Ernst Targets D.C.-area Federal Workers with Trio of Bills, Government Executive
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, proposed legislation this week that would force agencies to move 30% of their D.C.-based workforce out of the region, mandate telework tracking, and push agencies to move their headquarters out of the nation’s capital. Read more here.
OPM Set to Finalize Rules Standardizing General Schedule, Blue-Collar Locality Pay Maps, Government Executive
The Office of Personnel Management appears set to finalize new regulations that will standardize the maps relied upon to determine the locality pay rates for white- and blue-collar federal workers across the U.S. The final rule implementing the long-requested adjustment to the Federal Wage System’s map of wage areas will not be published until after President-elect Trump’s inauguration. Read more here.
Upcoming Labor & Employment Presentations
TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, January 29, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah
CONFERENCE: Ins and Outs of the Service Contract Act for 8(a) Contractors, February 12, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah
SEMINAR: Key Labor & Employment Rules, February 25, 2025, Nichole D. Atallah
CONFERENCE: Navigating HR Laws in the DMV Area: Your Must-Have Cheat Sheet (For Federal Contractors & More), February 25, 2025, Sarah L. Nash
TRAINING: Labor Rules & Regulations: Federal Market Compliance, February 26, 2025, Sarah L. Nash
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Proposed Rule: Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
On January 15, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule and request for comments regarding changes to the FAR. Comments close March 17, 2025. This proposed rule will amend the FAR to implement requirements in the National Archives and Records Administration’s CUI Program. DOD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to revise the FAR to implement these requirements on the Federal CUI Program as it relates to performance under Federal contracts and will create a Standard Form to create a uniform process to communicate information contractors must manage and safeguard as well as identify where a CUI incident must be reported and when there are CUI incident reporting requirements that differ from or are in addition to those in the proposed FAR clause. The proposed rule is available here.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Proposed Rule: Strengthening America’s Cybersecurity Workforce
On January 3, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule and request for comments regarding a proposed framework for describing cybersecurity workforce knowledge and skill requirements used in contracts for information technology support services and cybersecurity support services in line with an Executive Order to enhance the cybersecurity workforce. The proposed rule is available here. Comments close March 4, 2025.
Homeland Security Unveils Fresh Guidance on AI Implementation, Bloomberg Law
The Department of Homeland Security has shared key lessons from its AI pilot programs to help guide public sector implementation of the technology. Agency officials rolling out AI systems should identify key internal and external users and communicate regularly with interested parties, according to a report released Tuesday. DHS also stressed the need to collect and incorporate feedback when deploying the technology. Read more here (subscription required).