Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Get ready for a massive government spending spree

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A government spending spree of potentially historic proportions will play out over the final seven weeks of fiscal 2018, as federal agencies look to spend $140 billion more than they thought they’d get before Congress signed the omnibus spending bill.

Without a budget agreement in place, agencies spent cautiously through the first two quarters of fiscal 2018 before the omnibus—signed six months late in March—obligated an additional $80 billion for defense and $63 billion for civilian agencies.

Federal agencies, now flush with cash, must obligate that money before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 or lose it to the Treasury Department. Analysts believe the federal market will see a monumental effort among procurement officials to spend as much on contracts as possible.

“If agencies are going to spend the extra money in fiscal 2018, it’s going to have to be at a much higher percentage in the fourth quarter than it has been historically,” David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/08/get-ready-massive-government-spending-spree/150360/

Pentagon moves to cut procurement red tape in a bid to catch up with technology

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The defense acquisition bureaucracy inside the Pentagon is being downsized from 17 to eight offices. Senior civilian management positions are being pared down from 353 to 233, and military posts from 61 to 42. Contracts that required 83 checks and approvals will need just 22. Weapon systems that were centrally managed by the Pentagon are being turned over to the military services.

“We are rethinking how we do business,” Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters on July 27th.

With China and Russia threatening to out-innovate the United States in areas like advanced missiles, additive manufacturing, space weapons and artificial intelligence, the Pentagon is not just in a competition against adversaries but also in a race against itself.

How the Pentagon buys technology in the digital age has long been a cause for concern and is a major theme in the defense policy bill for fiscal year 2019 that a House-Senate conference passed last week. The bill includes dozens of provisions for “rapid innovation,” “rapid prototyping” and “rapid acquisition.”

Keep reading this article at: https://spacenews.com/pentagon-moves-to-cut-procurement-red-tape-in-a-bid-to-catch-up-with-technology/

Former company president settles False Claims Act case related to defective bullet proof vests

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Richard C. Davis, the founder and former president and CEO of Michigan-based Second Chance Body Armor, Inc., recently agreed to resolve claims under the False Claims Act in connection with his role in the sale of defective Zylon bullet-proof vests purchased by the United States for federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, the Justice Department has announced.

Mr. Davis will relinquish his interest in $1.2 million in assets previously frozen by the United States and will pay an additional $125,000 to the United States.  This settlement is based on Mr. Davis’ ability to pay.

Background

Second Chance sold body armor to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies reimbursed by the Department of Justice’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) program and to federal agencies under contracts with the General Services Administration. The United States alleged that Second Chance’s vests were defective due to the loss of their ballistic capability when exposed to heat and humidity. The United States also alleged that by 2001, Davis was aware that Second Chance’s Zylon body armor was degrading at what he described as a “disappointing” rate.

The United States further alleged that, rather than using a $6 million payment from Toyobo Co. Ltd., the manufacturer of Zylon fiber, to fix the degradation problem, Second Chance pocketed the money and Davis and other Second Chance owners began meeting with various investment bankers in an effort to sell Second Chance. These efforts to sell the company allegedly stopped after a Forest Hills, Pennsylvania police officer was shot through his Second Chance Zylon vest in June 2003. Second Chance filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and was liquidated.

Subsequent tests by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of Zylon-containing vests found that more than 50 percent of used vests could not stop bullets that they had been certified to stop. The performance of Second Chance Zylon vests were reported to be among the worst.  The NIJ removed all Zylon-containing vests from its list of compliant products, and Zylon is no longer used in ballistic vests.

Settlement

“The Department of Justice will pursue those who attempt to fraudulently profit at the expense of the United States, particularly when the stakes are life or death,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio.  “Bullet proof vests protect the brave men and women of our nation’s law enforcement community, and those who manufacture and sell these products have a solemn duty to ensure their safety and efficacy.”

The settlement resolves, in part, allegations filed in a lawsuit by Aaron Westrick, Ph.D., a former employee of Second Chance, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The Act also allows the government to intervene and take over the action, as it did in this case as to the allegations against Davis. Dr. Westrick will receive $28,750 plus a share of whatever the government ultimately recovers from the previously frozen funds.

This settlement is part of a larger investigation of the body armor industry’s use of Zylon.  The United States has previously recovered over $132 million from 18 corporations and individuals who participated in the sale of Zylon body armor. The Civil Division has transferred over $22 million of these recovered funds to the BVP program to replace BVP funds which had been used to purchase Zylon vests. The funds transferred to the BVP program will be used to fund the purchase of additional ballistic-resistant vests for state, local and tribal law enforcement officers. The United States is continuing to pursue claims against Honeywell International Inc., which allegedly sold a laminated version of Zylon for use in police armor.

The investigation and litigation of this matter were handled by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch; the General Services Administration, Office of the Inspector General; the Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command; the Department of the Treasury, Office of Inspector General for Tax Administration; the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; the Department of Energy, Office of the Inspector General; and the Defense Contracting Audit Agency.

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.  The lawsuit partially resolved by the settlement is captioned United States ex rel. Westrick v. Second Chance Body Armor, et al., No. 04-0280 (PLF) (D.D.C.).

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-second-chance-body-armor-president-settles-false-claims-act-case-related-defective

Small business advocate wins $475,000 in legal fees after 4-year fight with federal government

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After four years and expenses of more than $700,000, a California-based small business advocate on Thursday won an agreement from the Justice and Defense departments to pay his legal fees for litigation forcing the government to release confidential contracting data.

Lloyd Chapman, the outspoken founder of the Petaluma-based American Small Business League, declared victory in what he called an “historic” move by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to require the government to pay Chapman $475,000.

Neither Justice nor the Pentagon would comment on the case to Government Executive, but Chapman’s award was confirmed by his Washington attorney, Jon Cuneo of Cuneo, Gilbert & Laduca.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/08/small-business-advocate-wins-475k-legal-fees-after-4-year-fight-government/150280/

More opportunities coming for small businesses at Robins AFB, officials say

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Officials for a government contracting program some blame for the loss of hundreds of jobs in Warner Robins, GA said opportunities are coming that will allow many more small businesses to participate.

“We are going to be dramatically increasing the size of our small business pool,” said Clint McCoy, a program manager for One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services, or OASIS. “We are going to be increasing our pools by quite a large margin.”

OASIS is a different method of contracting established in 2014 that essentially consolidates contracts. Services that might have once been provided by dozens of businesses might now be done by one company.

The program is touted as a more efficient and flexible way of doing contracting. Some, however, say it makes it tougher for small businesses to compete. It is geared toward providing professional services, such as engineers and other experts.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.macon.com/news/local/military/article215487860.html

Government contractor found guilty of theft of government property

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A former government contractor has been found guilty for his role in a scheme to unlawfully convert U.S. government property from the U.S military base at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, shipping items to his home in Arizona for resale.

After a three day trial, Michael Dale Gilbert of Arizona was convicted of three counts of theft and unauthorized sale of government property and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.  Gilbert’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 9, 2018 before U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow of the District of Arizona, who presided over the trial.

According to the evidence admitted at trial, Gilbert worked at PAE Government Services, a government contractor that provides logistics and other support to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Defense around the globe, including Afghanistan.

  • From 2012 to 2015, Gilbert was deployed to Kandahar Airfield (KAF), where he assisted DOS with the Foreign Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program.
  • Once equipment, including computer equipment, heavy construction items and work tools, was requested through the FEPP program at KAF, Gilbert was assigned to arrange for its transfer for use or for its destruction, to prevent the items from falling into the hands of insurgents.
  • While in that role, in or around April and December of 2014, instead of facilitating the transportation or destruction of U.S government property, Gilbert shipped FEPP to the United States and transported the items to his residence in Arizona.
  • Gilbert stole FEPP items worth at least $48,900, including items recovered from his residence in Arizona valued at approximately $16,700, approximately $3,700 in sales through eBay, and goods valued at approximately $28,500 that Gilbert sold through other means, the evidence showed.

This case was investigated by the DOS Office of the Inspector General and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/government-contractor-found-guilty-theft-government-property

DHS would get more power to bar risky contractors under dueling proposals

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Two House Republicans are working on legislation that would expand the Homeland Security Department’s authority to deny contracts to companies that pose cybersecurity supply chain threats while the Trump administration is pushing an even more expansive proposal.

The bill in the House will be modeled on authorities Congress gave the Defense Department in 2011 that were implemented in 2015, said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., who is drafting the bill with Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

Under those rules, Pentagon contracting officers can bar vendors that pose a security risk from competing for contracts before they’re awarded and halt contractors from hiring risky subcontractors after an award.

Under current Homeland Security Department rules, contracting officers working on unclassified contracts can’t bar vendors before an award based on information provided by intelligence agencies, Soraya Correa, the department’s chief procurement officer, who testified before two House Homeland Security panels last Thursday.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/07/dhs-would-get-more-power-bar-risky-contractors-under-forthcoming-bill/149675/

Official says vendors will have to abide by new IT spending schema too

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As the whole of government moves to adopt an analysis and accounting structure that can map technology investments to business outcomes, federal officials expect the contracting community to come along for the ride.

Included in the President’s Management Agenda is a mandate for agencies by 2022 to implement the Technology Business Management schema — an industry standard for categorizing and tracking IT costs across an enterprise. The aim is to tie IT decisions on spending and operations directly to the value to the government and taxpayer.

Agencies are currently under mandates to report IT spending to the Office of Management and Budget. However, “The TBM piece is different [than other taxonomies] in that the measured outcomes are not in shrinking the number of spinning drives and blinking lights in your infrastructure. It’s more about business outcomes,” David Shrive, CIO at the General Services Administration and an early federal adopter of TBM, said during the TBM Summit on July 11.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/07/official-says-vendors-will-have-abide-new-it-spending-schema-too/149756/

Learn more about Technology Business Management at: https://www.cio.gov/fed-it-topics/sustainability-transparency/tbm/

2 men stole minority businesses’ IDs to get public contracts

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Authorities say two upstate New York contractors used the stolen identities of two minority-owned businesses to fraudulently obtain public construction contracts worth millions of dollars.

The state inspector general, attorney general and labor commissioner say Tuesday that 47-year-old Michael Martin and 52-year-old D. Scott Henzel have been indicted on charges that include identity theft and scheme to defraud.

Authorities say the two Albany-area men ran a now-defunct contracting company that took over two minority-owned businesses and used those businesses to land millions of dollars in public works projects.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article215022305.html

State, local governments could spend $275 billion on construction this year: Where the money will go

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According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures on the annual rate of construction spending, the country’s state and local governments are on track to spend more than $275 billion on nonresidential, taxpayer-funded construction initiatives this year, with highway and street ($93.5 billion), education ($72.5 billion) and transportation projects ($31.7 billion) together garnering the lion’s share of funds.

State and local airport spending has ramped up to an annual rate of $14.5 billion from a November 2011 low of $9.16 billion, according to additional data provided by Governing. Construction of corrections facilities declined the most of any other major spending category in the last decade, from an $8 billion peak in November 2008 to its current level of $4.6 billion, although some of that decline is likely related to the trend toward privatization of prisons and jails.

Highway and street spending, currently $93.5 billion, has remained relatively flat with only a small peak of $105 billion in January 2016. Spending on primary and secondary schools, which now stands at $46.7 billion, has never returned to its pre-recession highs.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/state-local-governments-could-spend-275b-on-commercial-construction-this/527585/

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