Legal Updates

Through the Federal Register, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a Notice of Request for Comments on an extension concerning novation and change-of-name agreements. The comments invited are requested on "whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of...

Introduction The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (“CISA”) has released a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPRM") for reporting cyber "incidents" and ransom payments. The proposed rule will be out on April 4, 2024, Comments are due 60 days after the rule is published (on April 4, 2024). Notably, this rule has a lot of good definitions and applications of those definitions and...

On April 27, 2023, SBA issued a final rule entitled "Ownership and Control and Contractual Assistance Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development Program." In that rule, the SBA improperly limited the definition of substantial bundling for Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) entered against a GSA Schedule. The new rule removes the limitation so that the definition applies to all BPAs and not...

The Information and Security Oversight Office (“ISOO”) provided a Joint Notice , 2024-01, regarding the eligibility determinations of joint ventures (“JV”)—specifically addressing the unpopulated structure of JV due to SBA regulations. Overall, the eligibility of each entity participating in a JV with security will be evaluated on a case by case basis, but there is some good guidance...

The Office of Advocacy, an independent office within the SBA, is holding an outreach meeting in Anchorage, Alaska on September 14 from 1-4 at the Loussac Library.  This will be held after tribal consultations, which the Office of Advocacy, an independent voice for the impact of regulations on small businesses, will attend. The digital outreach is an in-person listening session to better...

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) announces that it is holding tribal consultation meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., as well as a Listening Session in Honolulu, Hawaii, concerning forthcoming proposed revisions to the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program regulations. Additionally, SBA requests comments...

As has been discussed, the SBA is getting ready to release new regulations for procurement programs, including 8(a).  In conjunction with the yet to be released regulations, the SBA is scheduling tribal consultations in Anchorage, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.  The Anchorage tribal consultation is scheduled for September 14 and the New Mexico and Oklahoma consultations for the yet to be released...

In a policy with an effective date of June 30, 2022, SBA has extended the Bona Fide Office Moratorium for 8(a) firms until September 30, 2023.  The first moratorium was set to expire on September 30, 2022.  The moratorium or pause on regulations is necessary because the regulations were changed so that sole source awards, a distinct feature of the 8(a) Program, would join competitively bid...

During the panel with Outlook Law and the Small Business Administration (SBA), during the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association's Annual Conference, the Chief Counsel for the Office of Advocacy announced it will begin to attend tribal consultations to more fully understand the impact of regulations from all agencies, including SBA, have on  federally and state recognized tribes as well...

This week, SBA Headquarters and Outlook Law, LLC, spoke on a panel regarding changes benefiting small business.  Although it is widely known, the government increased small business goaling, one important fact that is lesser known but of great importance is the relationship of category management to small businesses.  Category Management has long been seen as one of the single greatest threats...