Acquisition
Veteran small-business bill would mandate use of fraud-prevention site
Under new legislation, agencies would have to search the Veterans Affairs Department’s VetBiz database before awarding a contract
Acquisition
House members introduce flood of small-business legislation
Insourcing, agency advocates, budget cuts, raised contracting goal: The legislation continues to pour out of the House. But will it go anywhere?
Acquisition
Bill would have feds feel the bite of missed contracting goals
Government officials would suffer if their agency comes up short on a small-business goal, under proposed legislation.
Acquisition
Agencies: Stop abusing simplified acquisitions
Small-biz advocate Raul Espinosa says agencies skirt rules designed to create contracting set-asides.
Acquisition
Agencies that miss small-biz goals could face penalties
Under a new bill, a department that misses a small-business contracting goal could lose money from the next year's budget.
Acquisition
Small business advocate raises reverse auction concerns
SBA's Office of Advocacy wants OFPP to clearly tell the acquisition workforce to follow regulations on set-asides.
Acquisition
Industry group warns against mandates for small-biz opportunities
Small contractors would suffer if regulators adopt guidance that replaces agencies’ flexibility, trade group says.
Acquisition
Sequestration makes contractors into 'hostages': Panel
As agencies scramble to cut costs under sequestration, contractors should expect to be squeezed too.
Acquisition
Don't celebrate withholding tax repeal just yet
While agencies aren't planning to hold back funds anymore, the government still seeks ways to collect delinquent taxes from contractors.
Acquisition
Companies can challenge government data on their performance
The delay gives the government time to make system changes.
Acquisition
Industry group argues against expanded conflict-of-interest rules
The Professional Services Council argues that agencies are already doing well at preventing and resolving problems.
Acquisition
New rule corrects contracting misunderstandings
New rules address time-and-materials contracts, require publication of contractors' work histories and attack abuses of interagency contracts.
Acquisition
OMB wants small purchases going to small firms
The Small Business Jobs Act requires an analysis of small-business participation in governmentwide commercial purchase card micro-purchases.
Acquisition
OFPP wants agencies tracking details on service contracts
Officials want to have a way to check on the contractor-to-federal employee ratio.
Acquisition
GAO: GSA reports fuzzy numbers on strategic sourcing savings
Strategic sourcing contracts save money, but considerably less than GSA claims, GAO concludes.
Acquisition
Congress clarifies 'critical function' definition
The fiscal 2012 National Defense Authorization Act may provide a little more clarity to the blurry term of “critical function.”
Acquisition
Gordon optimistic GAO will remove interagency contracting from high-risk list
Gordon has met with GAO to talk about how OMB has addressed the issues that put interagency contracting onto the high-risk list in the first place.
Acquisition
Air Force divisions pledge to fight fraud, contractor misconduct
Air Force officials intend to formalize relations between the organizations and have them planning and training together.
Acquisition
Reverse auctions: A bid for budget-conscious business
Reverse auctions, which have paid off in spades at State, could help other agencies looking to deal with tight IT budgets.
Acquisition