On July 29, 2021, President Biden announced certain actions to “get more people vaccinated.” The White House announced that “every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no
COVID-19
American Rescue Plan Presents New Government Contracting Opportunities – What Prospective Contractors Should Know
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which is expected to increase government contracting spend and opportunities for government contracting at the federal, state, and local levels through 2021 and beyond. To facilitate entry into what can otherwise be viewed as a daunting web of regulations and restrictions, Crowell…
CARES Act Section 3610 Relief Extended Until September 30, 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the Act), signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, extends Section 3610 of the CARES Act (previously discussed here, here, and here) through September 30, 2021. The extension allows federal agencies to reimburse contractors for six additional months of paid-leave costs if…
Fastest 5 Minutes: Executive Orders, COVID Vaccine Update, Supply Chain, LPTA
This week’s episode covers a False Claims Act update from DOJ, DOD COVID-19 vaccination plan of interest to contractors, final rule on LPTA, a Commerce final rule on information and communications technology or services, and range of executive orders issued by President Biden, and is hosted by partner Peter Eyre and associate Rina Gashaw. Crowell …
Special Treatment—DoD’s Vaccination Distribution Plan for Some DoD Contractors
On January 7, 2021, Ms. Ellen M. Lord, on behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, issued a memorandum for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) regarding the DoD COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Policy. This memo, along with the attached DoD guidance documents, the “Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Guidance”…
Section 3610 of the CARES Act Extended Until March 31, 2021
On Sunday, President Trump signed a combined COVID-Relief and Omnibus Spending Bill, The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which funds the Federal Government for FY 2021 and includes a variety of COVID-19-related relief measures. Among those measures, Section 1002 of the Act extends the reimbursement period for Section 3610 of the CARES Act, which…
DoD OIG Audit Assesses Implementation of Section 3610 Relief Under CARES Act
On December 9, 2020, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) released its Audit of Department of Defense Implementation of Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The audit assesses the DoD’s issuance of relief under Section 3610, which authorizes certain agencies to reimburse contractors for any…
Task Force Report on Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic Provides Recommendations to Improve Resiliency
On November 6, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Task Force, a public-private supply chain risk management partnership, published Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In laying out the challenges posed by the pandemic, the report highlights the inevitable tension in supply chain risk management between achieving efficiencies and…
The Anticipated SBA Evaluation of PPP Borrower’s Economic Necessity Certification
From the inception of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), borrowers questioned the meaning of the economic necessity certification that the Small Business Administration (SBA) required borrowers to make in the PPP loan application. While the SBA provided some definition to this certification in such Frequently Asked Questions as FAQs 31, 37, and 46, uncertainty remained.…
PPP Borrowers May Require SBA Consent or Escrowing of PPP Loan Balance in Connection with “Change of Ownership” Transactions
On October 2, 2020 (almost two months after the August 10, 2020 commencement of the acceptance period for forgiveness applications), the Small Business Administration (SBA) released an SBA Procedural Notice (the “Notice”) concerning required procedures for change of ownership of an entity that has received PPP loans (the “PPP Borrower”). Under the Notice, SBA approval…