- To be awarded an SDVOSB set-aside
PPP and Pandemic Fraud Recoveries Significant for DOJ in FY 2023
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it obtained more than $2.68 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in the fiscal year ending September 23, 2023. DOJ reports that “matters that involved the health care industry” again comprised the largest portion of these FCA recoveries, but that “pandemic fraud” recoveries also
Size Protest Amendments to the FAR Are Coming
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has made multiple changes to its regulations over the last decade, including final rules published in the Federal Register on October 2, 2013 (78 FR 61113), October 16, 2020 (85 FR 66146), and November 29, 2023 (87 FR 73400). Theses final rules published
SBA Finalizes Rule on Increased Size Standards and Program Thresholds
- First, this rule finalizes an
GAO Issues Another Noteworthy Protest Decision on Joint Venture Experience
We recently reported on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) decision in AttainX. As we explained, the AttainX decision is noteworthy because the GAO held that, notwithstanding the fact that a solicitation does not require examples from the joint venture itself or the individual members, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) regulations require the agency to
HUBZone Appeals Are Coming May 10!
Section 864 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 authorized the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to decide all appeals from Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) status protest determinations, which are currently decided by SBA’s associate administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development. The SBA recently
GAO Issues Noteworthy Protest Decision on Joint Venture Experience
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in AttainX, recently sustained a bid protest where the protester argued that the agency’s evaluation was inconsistent with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) regulations requiring agencies to consider the experience of the individual members of the joint venture if the joint venture itself does not demonstrate experience. This article
SBA to Increase Size Standards and Program Thresholds Due to Inflation
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently published a final rule on its 2019 interim final rule that adjusted monetary-based industry size standards (i.e., receipts- and assets based) for inflation which has occurred since 2014. Notably, the SBA’s recent rulemaking also included three important interim final actions.
- First, the SBA added an additional 13.65 percent
SBA Expands Past Performance Universe for Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a final rule that provides two new methods for small business government contractors to obtain past performance ratings to be used in support of offers on prime contracts with the federal government. The purpose of the rule is to address a common problem faced by small businesses
SBA Adopts 24-Month Period for Employee-Based Size Determinations
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a final rule adopting a 24-month — as opposed to the current 12-month — average to calculate a business’s number of employees for eligibility purposes in all SBA programs that contain employee-based size standards. SBA’s new rule — which takes effect July 6, 2022 — is discussed