Legal Updates

SBA announced tribal consultations in Albuquerque, NM, and Oklahoma City, OK, on Thursday, June 7, and Friday June 8, 2018, respectively.  Native American Contractors' Association (NACA), National Congress of American Indians-ED (NCAI-ED), and Outlook Law are working together for a preparation session for the tribal consultations at these locations as well as prior to the consultations. NACA...

Here are some highlights from the Senate Small Business Committee hearing held on May 15, 2018.  I would urge you to listen to the full hearing (even in the background) as it addresses the disparity of opportunity for minority (I think they lump in tribes, ANCs, and NHOS here) as well as women owned businesses: Chairman Risch took a very active role and highlighted the wins for small...

The Senate Small Business Committee is going to hold field hearings in Alaska on June 29, 2018, in Anchorage, Alaska.  Likely to occur in the afternoon.  This is a preliminary announcement subject to some change. Chairman of the Committee, Senator James Risch, is scheduled to travel at this time with Senator Sullivan in visiting Alaska and conducting the hearings.  Likely, although...

SBA released today the entity-owned firms supplemental document form for 8(a) certification.  That form can be found from this link. Entity-Owned Firms: Supplemental Documents for 8(a) in Certify

As the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the Department of Labor  (DOL) has recently clarified its audit process for Federal contractors (for that information, please click here: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/ ), there is also a reminder that Native Americans and Alaska Natives have an office within OFCCP that was designed to assist in employment rights of Native Americans...

The GAO, after introducing a draft rule in 2016, pursuant to a law passed by Congress in 2014, has done two things (1)  gone to an electronic only bid protest system and (2) instituted a $350.00 filing fee.  The  electronic only filing system does not apply to classified materials or to materials that are not suitable for electronic filing.  The final rule is effective May 1, 2018.  Here is...

The Department of Defense's (DOD) Inspector General's (IG) office examined two Army Contracting Commands, Redstone and Warren, to determine whether or not the contracting officers were monitoring compliance with small business subcontracting plans.  The IG also examined if the small business subcontracting plans were not provided, whether or not the contracting officers had examined if one was...

In Size Appeal of Chenega Support Services, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-5874, the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeal (OHA) affirmed an area office finding that a size appeal was untimely for a procurement where the procurement was suspended/stayed but not cancelled.  Appellant, represented by Piliero Mazza, unsuccessfully argued that the agency had undertook a new source selection, during a GAO protest...

The FDA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a small business set-aside.  That set-aside was protested, and the agency took corrective action.  Subsequently, when it issued the new RFP, as a part of that RFP, the agency required offerors to (re)-certify their size status as small.  One firm that had previously qualified as small had been acquired during the initial protest period and could...

In a quickly changing landscape of cyber security, the Defense Contract Management Agency ("DCMA") has begun a monthly report on cyber violations for personnel that have violated the Department of Defense's ("DOD") "Standard Mandatory Notice and Consent Provision for all DoD Information System User Agreements."  The violations are listed from low to high with the severity of the actions taken...