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    Archives for March 12

    Mar 2, 2012

    Companies would lose the opportunity to respond to performance reviews written by government officials under a new contracting bill. The reviews often play a major role in winning future contracts.

    The Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act (S. 2139), which was introduced Feb. 29, would revise language in the Federal Acquisition Regulation that gives companies 30 days to comment, provide additional information or rebut a contracting official’s assessment of their work. The same FAR provision requires agencies to provide companies with a copy of the work performance evaluation. Read full article

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    Mar 19, 2012

    A new federal acquisition rule is seeking to ensure enough competition for purchases made through General Services Administration schedules.

    GSA schedules are long-term programs meant to make the buying process easier on federal agencies by pre-negotiating prices and other terms. Multiple companies can hold a spot on a schedule, but they must compete for individual orders, meaning they have to win twice to see actual work.

    Earlier this month, the government issued a rule that ensures that all companies on a given schedule — schedules are sorted by type of purchase — are notified of each opportunity worth between $3,000 and $150,000. Opportunities worth more than $150,000 are already governed by traditional procurement regulations.

    These contractors must be given the opportunity to to make an offer and have it considered by the contracting officer. Read Full Article.

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    Mar 28, 2012

    Last week, the House Small Business Committee advanced six (6) bills aimed at reforming a wide range of contracting policies, all aimed at helping small businesses.

    1.HR 3850, the Government Efficiency Through (GET) Small Business Contracting Act which raises the small business contracting goal from 23% to 25%.

    2. HR 3851, the Small Business Advocate Act which improves the ability of small business advocates (OSDBUs) to increase agency contract awards to small businesses.

    3. HR 3893, the Subcontracting Transparency And Reliability (STAR) Act, which improves enforcement of subcontracting plans and increases small business teaming opportunities.

    4. HR 3980, the Small Business Opportunity Act, which requires a greater role for procurement center representatives in reviewing acquisition plans for barriers and advocating for increased use of small businesses.

    5. HR 4118, the Small Business Procurement Improvement Act, which requires federal agencies to include small businesses in multiple award contracts.

    6. HR 4121, the Early Stage Small Business Contracting Act, which sets aside certain contracts ranging from $3,000 to $75,000 for small business startups.

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