Multiple Award Schedule Contracting

We recently wrote about GSA’s new Transactional Data Reporting (“TDR”) pilot program, which requires participating Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contractors to report 11 items of transactional data to GSA each month. The TDR rule also eliminates the requirement to provide a Commercial Sales Practices (“CSP”) format as well as the Price Reductions Clause.  As we noted in our earlier post, the TDR rule promises to give GSA contracting officers greater flexibility in evaluating FSS offers and proposed pricing, but there still is significant uncertainty as to how GSA will apply the rule in practice.

Recognizing this uncertainty, the Coalition for Government Procurement recently submitted 65 questions to GSA focused on five aspects of the TDR rule: Use of the Data, Pricing, Pilot Administration and Operations, Public Disclosure of Information, and Evaluating the Pilot. GSA responded to the Coalition’s questions on September 19th.  While GSA’s efforts to engage with industry are commendable, GSA left unanswered many key questions that are of significance to FSS contractors, including how the TDR rule will impact FSS contract pricing negotiations.Continue Reading GSA Leaves Many Questions Unanswered, As Industry Assesses The New Transactional Data Reporting Rule

As we discussed in a recent post, the Supreme Court’s decision in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States left a number of questions unanswered regarding the implementation of set-aside requirements for veteran-owned small businesses under Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”) contracts.  The decision has already had repercussions outside the set-aside context, with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently applying Kingdomware’s reasoning in Coast Professional, Inc. v United States to confirm bid protest jurisdiction under the Tucker Act for orders placed under FSS contracts.

Congressional testimony subsequent to Kingdomware also now confirms that a number of agencies are considering whether the Supreme Court’s decision has broader implications for other small business programs.  Specifically, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has publically recognized that the Supreme Court’s reasoning may extend beyond a relatively narrow statute governing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) set asides and require significant changes to long-standing principles established under the Small Business Act.  As result, the VA’s and the SBA’s interests may no longer be aligned as the agencies attempt to reconcile currently differing implementations of related set-aside programs.Continue Reading SBA Considers Potential Consequences of Kingdomware Technologies

Recently, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) issued a proposed rule to codify a class deviation regarding GSA’s approach to common Commercial Supplier Agreement (“CSA”) and End User License Agreement (“EULA”) terms.  We have previously addressed the class deviation here and in an article for the Coalition for Government Procurement available here.  While the Proposed Rule apparently is intended to assuage contractor concerns about the class deviation, it falls short of this goal, so contractors must remain vigilant if and when the Proposed Rule is finalized and GSA begins to attempt to implement it through contract modifications.  Comments on the Proposed Rule are due by August 1, 2016.
Continue Reading GSA Doubles Down on CSA/EULA Deviation

Last month, we discussed Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70, one of the largest contract vehicles administered by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). GSA now is evaluating whether Schedule 70 should be made more accessible to certain small contractors, new IT providers, and other, similarly situated firms.
Continue Reading GSA Seeks Input on Eliminating IT Schedule 70’s Two-Year Experience Requirement

Earlier this month, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting feedback from industry on ways to improve the sale of Cybersecurity and Information Assurance (CyberIA) products and services through GSA’s multi-billion dollar Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70. IT Schedule 70 currently features more than a dozen special item numbers (SINs) for cybersecurity products and services.[1] In this RFI, GSA seeks information from vendors and federal agencies as to whether it should consolidate those SINs into one major CyberIA grouping, with a number of categories and subcategories.

The RFI, which was issued just weeks before the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Defense (DoD) announced their own major cybersecurity initiatives, is yet another sign that the federal government is leveraging its substantial buying power to harden government and contractor networks against cyber intrusions. As explained below, GSA’s appeal to industry offers a tremendous opportunity for the private sector to help shape the way commercial CyberIA products and services are bought by and sold to the government.
Continue Reading GSA Seeks Industry Input on Cybersecurity Schedule Offerings

If comments at a recent public meeting are any indication, the General Service Administration’s proposed Transactional Data Reporting rule may be in danger of stalling before it even gets started. The proposed rule, announced to great fanfare last month, has been trumpeted by GSA as a “new vision for Federal purchasing.” During an all-day public meeting held at GSA headquarters, however, the proposal was the subject of pointed criticism from industry and government stakeholders alike. Some complaints were perhaps not unexpected given the dramatic changes envisioned by the rule, but the objections from both public and private sources could force GSA to rethink its proposed approach before moving forward with a final rule.
Continue Reading Doubts Raised About GSA’s New Vision for Federal Contracting