Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

What to expect during a government shutdown: Submitting bids, getting paid, and more

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Background

Federal agencies receive funding through a series of appropriations bills. A number of these bills — including those that fund the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education — have been approved for the federal fiscal year that began October 1st.  As a result, those agencies are not being affected by the partial shutdown of the federal government.

Agencies Affected

However, appropriations bills that support other agencies — including the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, the State Department, the Interior Department, the Commerce Department, and the Department of Housing & Urban Development — have expired.  These nine departments are directly affected by the shutdown, although some units within these departments remain open because they are funded by money that is not subject to congressional appropriations, or their services are deemed “essential,” or because they can operate with what is known as “carryover funding.”

The shutdown has special implications for federal contractors, including vendors competing for federal contracts.  The contracting offices of the agencies affected by the shutdown may be closed.  In some cases, these agencies have issued stop-work orders to their contractors.  Listed below are details.

Should vendors submit bids during a government shutdown?
Some government contractors could go unpaid even after the shutdown ends 
Employers can’t use E-Verify system during shutdown
What vendors learned from the last government shutdown
Signs point to extended shutdown with no deal emerging quickly

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/

Where DoD’s R&D funds would go in 2017

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US DoD logoThe Defense Department (DoD) has put a lot of emphasis lately on the importance of cyberspace, electronic warfare and new technologies, and that emphasis is reflected in its 2017 budget request for research and development (R&D).

DoD as a whole is asking for $72 billion in R&D to, in Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s words, “make sure that we retain the qualitative edge in capabilities — advanced capabilities.”  He mentioned, specifically by name, “undersea capabilities, electronic warfare, space, cyber, new kinds of strike systems, increasing the lethality of our fleet of aircraft and … ships, and so forth.”

The individual service branches also are investing in R&D in those areas, according to budget documents released recently.

Keep reading this article at: https://defensesystems.com/articles/2016/02/18/dod-research-development-spending-2017.aspx

 

FHwA expected to release $2 billion in old earmarked funds to state highway departments

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AASHTO Statement - Jan. 2016State transportation officials and construction contractors are eagerly awaiting word from the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) about how the agency will parcel out to states an estimated $2.1 billion in earmarked but long-unused highway-project funds. FHwA should make its announcement this month, an agency official says.

The fiscal 2016 omnibus appropriations measure, signed into law on Dec. 18, directs FHwA to redistribute to states unobligated funds earmarked for highway projects in transportation legislation dating back at least a decade. For example, some of the earmarks were contained in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which was enacted in 1998.

The appropriations law specifies that states must redeploy the funds on a project within 50 miles of the old earmarked one.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.enr.com/articles/38738-fhwa-expected-to-release-2b-in-old-earmarked-funds

The ‘nudum pactum’ mistake

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One of the three basic requirements for a contract to be enforceable is consideration, which usually means a promise to pay money, but could mean that another valuable item would be provided instead (as in a trade, for example, of one valuable car for another valuable car).

Nudum PactumIn federal procurement contracts, the courts have said that to be a valid contract, the transaction “must show a mutual intent to contract including an offer, an acceptance and consideration.” If there’s no consideration, is it a contract?  The answer is simple: it’s a “nudum pactum” and there is no valid contract.

A nudum pactum is defined as a “bare agreement,” a promise or undertaking without any consideration for it. Where there is a nudum pactum, the contract is neither valid nor enforceable.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/commentary/2015/11/nudum-pactum-mistake/

For federal IT vendors, a lot to like in House, Senate Defense bills

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From the perspective of federal technology companies, there’s a lot to like in this year’s House and Senate Defense authorization bills. Indeed, a leading industry group’s main complaint is that the acquisition reforms in the legislation only apply to DoD — not the rest of the government.

House Armed Services CommitteeWhile the leaders of both the House and Senate armed services committees say they’re taking an incremental approach to acquisition reform in their respective versions of this year’s Defense authorization bill, the Senate version, released last week, appears to try to achieve more change within a single year.

The measure tackles everything from the role of the military service chiefs in procurement decisions to the acquisition workforce and establishing new “alternative” pathways to buy goods and services and pressing the Defense Department to make more use of commercial technology.

In a briefing with reporters Wednesday, May 27, the IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS), a lobbying group and association for federal IT contractors, said it had no substantive disagreements with any provisions in either of the Defense bills — an extremely rare occurrence for any advocacy group with interests in the huge, annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/394/3865197/For-federal-IT-vendors-a-lot-to-like-in-House-Senate-Defense-bills

President’s budget request yields clues for contractors to follow

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Analysis of the president’s budget request typically yields some interesting clues for anyone willing to go deep enough into the data to reveal them. The numbers reveal shifting agency priorities as well as hints to the sea changes that could affect the potential $608 billion in fiscal 2015 contract spending.

There are a number of areas that contractors should consider as they navigate the remainder of fiscal 2014 and plan for 2015:

1. Put on your game face for recompetes.

2. Keep an eye on the shelf life on IT funding.

3. Take advantage of 2014 to gain footing for 2015.

4. Expect more contractor scrutiny.

5. Follow the (Defense) money.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/deltek-budget-request-yields-clues-for-contractors-to-follow/2014/05/09/e249e1a0-d479-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html

Contractors might weather shutdown using prior-year funds

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A key change in Washington since the government shutdown in the mid-1990s is an increased reliance on contractors, industry specialists note, but the damage a spending lapse might inflict on contracting companies this year would depend on their ability to use past-year funds.

“The short-term impact is that no new awards can be made, no options can be exercised and payments for ongoing work may be delayed,” said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, a contractors trade group. “Since many companies already have been awarded contracts paid with prior-year appropriations, that work will continue provided that there’s no need for continuous government supervision or direction,” which is not the case with most contracts.

Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president for national security and procurement policy at TechAmerica, said, “If you have a valid contract in place that has a life beyond fiscal 2013, the funds are available and obligated, and employees are expected to show up at work. The biggest challenge you may find is that your government counterpart may not be there, or the government facility may not be open.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/09/contractors-might-weather-shutdown-using-prior-year-funds/71056

 

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