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Lawmakers announce deal to avoid government shutdown

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Lawmakers announced last Thursday that they have reached an agreement that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

At a conference committee meeting on Thursday, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said lawmakers would push that timeframe back until at least Dec. 7 with a continuing resolution.

That measure would only put some agencies on autopilot, as lawmakers are poised to pass full-year, line-by-line appropriations for most of the government in the coming weeks. Congress was expected on Thursday to send President Trump the first package of spending bills, a “minibus” that funds the departments of Veterans Affairs, Energy and related agencies, as well as the legislative branch. The White House indicated this week that President Trump would sign the measure into law.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/09/lawmakers-announce-deal-avoid-shutdown/151246/

Shutdown advice for contractors: If a stop-work order comes, stop work

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Congress’s progress on its 12 annual spending bills for fiscal 2019 means “we’re in pretty good shape ” for funding federal agencies, David Berteau, president and CEO of the 400-member Professional Services Council, told his contractor members in a webinar last Wednesday.

Congressional appropriators have reported all spending bills from committee, with a half-dozen approved by full chambers, Berteau noted, lawmakers’ most productive pace in 12 or 13 years. But with only 11 legislative days left before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, there is a “slim chance” of all 12 getting through conference or a major negotiated omnibus deal, which is why it is “prudent” for agencies and contractors to prepare for the possibility of a lapse in appropriations. Getting all the bills signed by Oct. 1 “is subject to a lot of decisions affected by both votes and politics,” Berteau said.

“The reason we [present preparation guidance for our members] is not to predict a [shutdown]–we hope there is no government shutdown,” added Alan Chvotkin, PSC’s executive vice president and counsel, but because reacting to agency closures “is an arcane area.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/08/shutdown-advice-contractors-if-stop-work-order-comes-stop-work/150578/

Congress aims to redefine ‘subcontract’

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If an agreement qualifies as a “subcontract” under a government contract, then it may be subject to certain flow-down, compliance, and reporting requirements.  These requirements are intended to protect the government’s interests, and have significant ramifications for contractors, e.g., increasing transaction costs, expanding potential areas of exposure.

These compliance obligations and risks can even deter some companies from performing under government contracts, especially those companies offering commercial items.

Currently, there is no uniform definition of “subcontract” in the applicable procurement regulations or in the procurement chapters under Titles 10 and 41 of the U.S. Code.  Indeed, there are more than twenty varying definitions of “subcontract” in the FAR and DFARS, with many clauses failing to specify which definition applies.  Now Congress is looking to address this lack of uniformity through the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/06/congress-aims-to-redefine-the-subcontract/

An infrastructure deal should be easy, but isn’t

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The stars should be aligned for a big infrastructure deal.

The lingering devastation from the hurricanes that crippled Houston and Florida underscored the national problems of crumbling roads and bridges, inadequate transportation systems and aging electrical grids. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats both want Washington to spend billions on repairs and construction.

The need is critical. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the country’s infrastructure a D-plus grade and estimated that its deficiencies will cost the economy $4 trillion over the next decade. As Floridians go days, stretching into weeks, without power, and with old people dying in nursing homes, the urgency is clear.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-17/an-infrastructure-deal-should-be-easy-but-isn-t

Cyber executive order could signal windfall for contractors

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This week, the House passed a major bill that would create working capital funds agencies to modernize their internal technology. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to update their cybersecurity practices and to hold agency heads, not chief information officers, accountable for incidents.

What do these moves mean for technology contractors? They could signal continued or greater upcoming investments in private-sector cyber services, Candace Worley, McAfee’s chief technical strategist, told Nextgov.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/mcafee-vp-cyber-executive-order-could-signal-windfall-contractors/137979

Frequently-cited statistic about danger small businesses face from cyberattacks has no basis in fact

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It’s the kind of figure that can make your jaw drop, the kind that forces lawmakers and public officials to get off their duffs and do something, that drives home the way cyber insecurity is ravaging small businesspeople across the nation.

House and Senate lawmakers have cited it in bills that would redirect federal resources and are awaiting action on their chambers’ floors. Top executive branch officials have cited it in official testimony to Congress.

But it’s completely erroneous, not based on any existing study, according to an exhaustive Nextgov search.

The statistic, typically attributed to the National Cyber Security Alliance, is that 60 percent of small businesses that suffer a cyberattack will go out of business within six months.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/how-fake-cyber-statistic-raced-through-washington/137542

See related article, “House Panel Passes Bill Requiring Federal Cyber Guidance for Small Businesses,” at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/house-panel-passes-bill-requiring-federal-cyber-guidance-small-businesses/137499 

Contractors applaud House vote to kill fair pay, safe workplace rule

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Two major contracting groups hailed House passage on Thursday (Feb. 2, 2017) of a long-expected resolution to undo the Obama administration’s 2014 “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” order requiring contractors to report past violations of 14 labor laws.

House joint resolution 37, sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., declares that the implementation rule submitted in August by the Defense Department, General Services Administration, and NASA relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) has no effect.

It passed 236-187 amid a series of votes using the 1996 Congressional Review Act to nullify regulations enacted in the past 60 days. (Other rules involved streams protection, land management royalties and Social Security rules on gun purchase background checks for people with mental disabilities.)

“We welcome the House action,” said David Berteau, president and CEO of the 400-member Professional Services Council, in a statement. “The blacklisting rule fails to provide companies with basic due process, imposes significant new and non-value added reporting requirements, and risks denying federal buyers access to the best private-sector providers to meet government needs. With the disapproval of this rule by the House, and we hope with prompt action by the Senate and then signature by the president, a significant overhang will be removed from the acquisition process.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/02/contractors-applaud-house-vote-kill-obama-fair-pay-safe-workplace-rule/135140

Defense bill stripped of language overturning contractor Executive Orders

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The election of Donald Trump had a surprise impact on this month’s House-Senate conference meetings on the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

One of the main sticking points in the bill was whether to include House language on contractor “religious freedom” introduced in May by Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., which critics feared would allow contractors to fire LGBT employees protected under a 2014 executive order from President Obama.

But senior Senate Armed Services Committee aides told reporters Tuesday that “since the election, other paths have opened up” for addressing that executive order and the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rule, which contractors have opposed. The bill’s language on religious freedom and fair pay has therefore been removed from the compromise bill.The [National Defense Authorization Act] was always an imperfect remedy,” the aides said the night before the long-awaited conference report and merged bill were set to be posted.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/11/defense-bill-stripped-language-overturning-contractor-executive-orders/133512/

Congress tries to avoid a government shutdown as Oct. 1 nears

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US CongressLawmakers are working behind the scenes to cobble together a continuing resolution in the next two weeks to keep the government open past Oct. 1.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has scheduled for Monday evening (Sept. 19, 2016) a vote to proceed on a short-term continuing resolution that funds the government through Dec. 9, according to a tweet from CQ Roll reporter Jennifer Shutt. The hope is that the Senate will finish up work on the stopgap spending measure by the middle of next week, and send it over to the House for a vote later next week. H.R. 5325, the legislative branch spending bill, is serving as the legislative vehicle for the short-term CR.

Senators tried to get the measure squared away this week, but partisan battles over various issues cropped up. Earlier this week, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters that “lots of problems” remained with a Republican stopgap spending proposal, according to The Hill.  Republicans do not want any of the money allotted to fight the Zika virus in Puerto Rico to go toward Planned Parenthood clinics, and there are other fights over disaster aid to Louisiana and Internet oversight. It’s also possible that the House will move forward on its own next week without waiting for the Senate to send something over.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2016/09/congress-tries-avoid-government-shutdown-oct-1-nears/131577

Bills aim to streamline federal contract access for cybersecurity startups

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US CongressHigh-growth cybersecurity startups have received a total of $9 billion in venture capital funding in the past six years, according to the National Venture Capital Association. The private sector has rapidly adopted the cybersecurity solutions developed by these emerging companies; however, the federal government has been missing out on these innovations due to its cumbersome and confusing procurement process.

Two bills recently approved by the House Committee on Homeland Security aim to jumpstart a prohibitively slow and complex procurement process for innovative cybersecurity technologies. According to industry insiders, by the time innovators win government contracts, cybersecurity needs have often evolved, requiring products to be adjusted to stay effective.

Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe, chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies, introduced the Leveraging Emerging Technologies Act of 2016 and the Support for Rapid Innovation Act of 2016. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently indicated that the House may soon consider them.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=504080

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