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
DOJ Announces FCA Settlement Arising out of Violation of SBA’s Joint Venture Requirements
On February 25, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois announced a settlement to resolve allegations that a contractor that was not an eligible participant in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program violated the False Claims Act by controlling a joint venture that claimed 8(a) status and won an
SBA’s Recent Rulemaking Changes to the 8(a) Business Development Program
In a previous blog post, we covered the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) consolidation of the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Mentor-Protégé Program and the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program. Beyond consolidating the programs, SBA also made a host of additional changes to the 8(a) Program, almost all of which took effect on November 16, 2020. As
Changes To The Evaluation Of Small Business Joint Ventures
As we’ve stressed about the mentor-protégé program, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) primary concern is that the program benefits the small business protégés.
Past performance is a particularly delicate topic for small businesses, presenting something of a what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg question. Past performance is not strictly required in order to win prime federal contracts, and its weighting
Modifications to Several 13 C.F.R. § 121.103 Affiliation Tests
In the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) October 2019 Final Rule covering Consolidation of Mentor-Protégé Programs and Other Government Contracting Amendments, SBA also included modification to two of the affiliation tests under 13 C.F.R. § 121.103.
(Note, SBA made a number of other changes to 13 C.F.R. § 121.103 focused on the joint venture affiliation test.)
Return of the MAC: SBA Final Rule Changes Certification Requirements for Multiple-Award Contracts
On October 16, 2020, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) issued a final rule enacting a number of now-effective changes to SBA’s regulations, including changes to the rules governing size recertifications on unrestricted multiple award contracts (“MACs”).
The final rule requires contractors to certify their size and socioeconomic status at the time of initial offer for
SBA Publishes Rule to Implement One-Year Extension for 8(a) Business Development Program Participants
On January 13, 2021, the Small Business Administration issued an interim final rule to implement the one-year extension of 8(a) Business Development status provided for in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (which we previously discussed here).
The rule contains crucial information on implementation
One Way or Another, Congress Will Allow a One-Year Extension of 8(a) Status for Participants Who Were in the 8(a) Program on or Before September 9, 2020
Participants in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program have faced a hard year—using up one of their nine years in the program during a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty. For participants that are about to graduate, things are even bleaker. Normally, those firms would have been preparing to compete without the ability to
SBA’s Recent Rulemaking “Consolidation of Mentor Protégé Programs and Other Government Contracting Amendments”
Last year, on November 8, 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a comprehensive proposal to revise various aspects of its regulations in response to President Trump’s executive order calling for the reduction in unnecessary and burdensome regulations. Given the nature of the proposed revisions and the timing of the release, SBA provided an extended
Changes to the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Programs
The Consolidation of the 8(a) Business Development and All Small Mentor-Protégé Programs
The headline change from this rule is the consolidation of SBA’s decades-old 8(a) Business Development (BD) Mentor-Protégé Program with the more-recently created All Small Mentor-Protégé Program, which had significantly expanded protégé eligibility in 2016.
SBA highlighted that the driving force for this consolidation