Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Increase in 2017 Service Contract Act health & welfare rate; Lower rate for contracts covered by federal paid sick leave EO

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its annual memorandum with the rate increase for Service Contract Act (SCA) Health and Welfare (H&W) Fringe Benefits. The new rate of $4.41 per hour (up from the 2015-2016 rate of $4.27 per hour) is required in all government contract bids or other service contracts awarded on or after August 1, 2017.

A special rate of $1.91 per hour is set for Hawaii, which takes into account that state’s mandatory health insurance coverage. However, an employer may use this lower rate only if it actually makes contributions for employees under the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act.

DOL officials indicated earlier this year that the rates set for 2017 would account for contracts subject to Executive Order 13706, which applies to new contracts that result from solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2017, or that are awarded outside the solicitation process on or after that date. The EO requires covered contractors to provide employees up to 56 hours of paid leave sick leave annually.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/increase-in-2017-service-contract-act-87128/

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

How will Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order impact construction?

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In the latest of a series of executive orders signed since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has again chosen that method as a way to affect policy in the U.S. Unlike some other executive orders that aim to streamline project schedules and cut red tape, however, the “Buy American and Hire American” measure could put more restrictions on the construction industry.

Inside the executive order

The executive order doesn’t change anything just yet. Through the order, Trump calls on all of his administration’s agency heads to:

  1. Evaluate the implementation and compliance of existing Buy America laws under their jurisdictions
  2. Take a look at their waiver process and determine how it is affecting American business.
  3. Come up with additional policies, within the confines of existing law, that “maximize” the use of American-made products and their components, including common construction materials like steel, iron, aluminum and cement.

For purposes of the order, administration officials added that American-made steel means that it is produced in the U.S. from the melting phase forward.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.constructiondive.com/news/trumps-buy-american-hire-american-executive-order-construction-industry/441115/

‘Buy American’ order draws mixed reviews from contractors

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Last Tuesday (Apr. 18, 2017) President Trump traveled to the Snap-On Tool manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wis., to sign a previously announced executive order that tasks agencies and contractors with ramping up efforts to “Buy American” and “Hire American.”

Combined with a crackdown on unmerited high-level work visas and unfair trade practices, the order taps procurement specialists to propose contracting reforms to be assembled over 220 days by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to create a “more muscular” Buy American policy, as a senior administration official told reporters Monday.

“It’s time,” Trump told the crowd on Tuesday, for the government to “aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job.” The purpose of the order is to require “federal agencies to strictly uphold our Buy American laws and minimize waivers and maximize Made in America content in all federal projects,” he said. “We will fully monitor, uphold and enforce our Buy American laws, which we haven’t done.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/04/trumps-buy-american-order-draws-mixed-reviews-contractors/137129

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New DHS acquisition rules proposal could disrupt contracts, hurt small business

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President Donald Trump celebrated a new executive order designed to eliminate regulations on small businesses. But a series of new acquisition rules proposed weeks ago by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have Federal contracting experts worried about future governmentwide disruptions and a decrease in competition.

DHS’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer on Jan. 18 issued three proposed rules that would require privacy training and security awareness training for contractors, and would add five new categories of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)—unclassified information that is still sensitive—that contractors will need to secure and manage.

DHS’s proposed regulations are troubling to some Federal contracting experts because they disrupt the governmentwide standards that took years to set up, and may impose costs on small businesses that make it impossible for them to compete for DHS contracts.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council (PSC), said the new CUI categories “don’t square” with the governmentwide rule that took six years to create.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/new-dhs-acquisition-rules-proposal-could-disrupt-contracts-hurt-small-business/

Reducing the costs of procurement regulation – A step in the right direction

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The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is around 180,000 pages and is growing at about 2,000 pages a year.

In 2008, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Small Business Administration estimated the regulatory compliance costs to be approximately $1.752 trillion.

These figures were cited in 2015 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by the Honorable Jacque S. Gansler, Ph.D., currently professor emeritus at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. He cited these figures in making the case for reducing regulations, policies, and procedures to reduce barriers to entry to the federal market and to increase the Defense  Department’s access to commercial innovation, which is needed desperately to ensure technological superiority on the battlefield.

That is why the Jan. 30, 2017 executive order Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, is a step in the right direction in reducing regulatory burdens.  The EO provides, in part, that for fiscal year 2017, the heads of agencies are directed that the total incremental cost of all new regulations to be finalized this year, including repealed regulations, shall be no greater than zero.  The EO further provides that any new incremental costs associated with the new regulations shall be offset by the elimination of existing costs of at least two prior regulations.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/commentary/2017/02/reducing-the-costs-of-procurement-regulation-a-step-in-the-right-direction/

Update on government contracts ramifications of the Trump administration

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In December 2016, Jones Day issued “ Government Contracts Ramifications of the Trump Election,” a Commentary in which we discussed several likely impacts of the Trump Administration in the government contracts arena. Specifically, we discussed that the new Administration would:

  • Seek repeal of numerous Executive Orders affecting government contractors.
  • Reject some Obama Administration procurement policies, such as: the preference for fixed-price type contracts; the preference for lowest-price technically acceptable (“LPTA”) evaluation schemes; and the preference against outsourcing government jobs to private companies.
  • Embrace Commercial Item contracting.
  • Increase government spending for defense, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and immigration-related activities.
  • Decrease spending by many agencies, including the Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, and Internal Revenue Service.
  • Focus on compliance issues such as rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse, and ensuring compliance with the Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act.
  • Withdraw from, or renegotiate America’s participation in, certain trade relationships, which could affect companies’ supply chains.
  • Decrease the federal workforce, which could result in understaffing and undertraining within the acquisition workforce.
  • Appoint the members of the FAR Council, including the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) Administrator, Secretary of Defense, Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Administrator of General Services Administration.

Since the issuance of our earlier Commentary, President Trump has taken several actions that provide additional insight into the impact his Administration will have on government contractors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/564798/Government+Contracts+Procurement+PPP/Update+On+Government+Contracts+Ramifications+Of+The+Trump+Administration

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/

Minimum wage for federal contractors updated; paid sick leave rule coming

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DOLThe U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published the minimum wage rate to be paid to workers performing on or in connection with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.  Beginning January 1, 2017, federal contractors must pay covered workers at least $10.20 per hour. In addition, covered tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts must be paid a cash wage of at least $6.80 per hour.

The Executive Order was originally signed February 12, 2014, and it permits the Secretary of Labor to adjust this amount each year.   The notice and an updated Worker Rights poster are available here.

Meanwhile, the rule effectuating Executive Order 13706, which requires certain federal contractors and subcontractors to provide their workers with up to seven days of paid sick leave annually, has completed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review process, according to Politico.

Under the rule as proposed, employees may use paid sick days for themselves, for a sick family member, or for absences related to sexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking.

The Executive Order requires DOL to publish a final rule implementing the Order by September 30, 2016.

Government releases final rule implementing ‘blacklisting’ law

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The final rule and guidance implementing the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, signed by President Barack Obama in July 2014 and finally published on August 25, 2016, remain almost as burdensome and problematic as they were when originally proposed. They will impact many federal contractors and require immediate attention to ensure full compliance, which for some will be required as soon as October 2016.

President Barack Obama signs the "Fair Pay and Safe Workplace" executive order in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, July 31, 2014. The President is joined on stage by Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as well as employers who support fair labor practices, workers who have seen firsthand the effects of workplace violations, and advocates who have worked to improve fair pay and safety standards. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama signs the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplace” executive order in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, July 31, 2014. The President is joined on stage by Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as well as employers who support fair labor practices, workers who have seen firsthand the effects of workplace violations, and advocates who have worked to improve fair pay and safety standards. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Often referred to as the “blacklisting” law, the Executive Order requires prospective and existing contractors to disclose violations of 14 federal labor laws plus state equivalents, requires them to provide certain information each pay period to enable workers to verify the accuracy of their pay, and prohibits certain contractors from using pre-dispute arbitration agreements to address sexual assault and civil rights claims.

The rule from the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. General Services Administration and NASA) and guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) are designed to assist agencies in implementing the Executive Order. They detail procedures for making the disclosures, assessing violations, developing conditions for further consideration of bids, and providing required notices to workers.

The final rule and guidance remain burdensome and problematic for several reasons.  First, they create a publicly available repository of contractor violations. They also require the contracting officer to determine whether a contractor is a “responsible source” based on violations that may not be final or are subject to appeal. Moreover, contracting officers wield the power to require bidders with records deemed less-than-satisfactory to commit to a labor compliance agreement in order for their bids to be considered. Although some minor changes were made to the proposals between the initial release and ultimate finalization, the overall effect remains the same.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/523316/employee+rights+labour+relations/Government+Releases+Final+Rule+Implementing+Blacklisting+Law

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