GSA’s Management Services Center (MSC), which manages the MOBIS, PES, LOGWORLD, Language, Consolidated, and Environmental Schedule Contracts, is based in Washington state - 3,000 miles from the majority of Schedule holders. Fortunately for DC-area contractors who hold one or more of these Schedules, the MSC will be hosting Industry Days in Crystal City, VA on May 25-26, 2010. This is the second Industry Day sponsored by MSC in the DC Metro area offering contractors a unique opportunity for specialized training and networking. The first session filled quickly, so register now to take advantage of this free event. More information about the program schedule and registration is located after the jump. Read all »

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday that it will be holding a pre-solicitation conference for all companies interested in bidding on the EAGLE II-Unrestricted contract on March 30, 2010. The conference will be held at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), L. William Seidman Training Center in Arlington, Virginia. The main objective of the conference is to provide information regarding the contents of the DRAFT EAGLE II – Unrestricted Request for Proposal (RFP), which is scheduled for release prior to the conference.

Registration is open immediately, and will close once maximum capacity is met. To register, interested companies must follow the instructions on the following link: https://www.fbcinc.com/dhseagle/atreg1.aspx. You can also follow EAGLE II on FedBizOpps for further information on this opportunity, including the original Request for Information, agency presentations and contractor questions from the Vendor Outreach Day, and other updates.

Are you losing contracts because your fringe rate is too high or your benefits are uncompetitive? Are you losing employees as fast as you can hire and train them? How are other companies doing handling these issues? It may be time to stop guessing and find out - by participating in the region’s largest government contractor (GovCon) fringe benefit survey when it becomes available March 1st - go to http://www.montgomerycountychamber.com/pubs/main/GovConNet.cfm and click on the yellow star to start the survey.Survey participants will receive a FREE Individual Custom Report (ICR) with Summary of Results showing your plan(s)  compared to 3 separate benchmarks: National, Regional, and Government Contractors. You will be able to determine exactly what the competition is offering (or not offering) - and make a strategic decision to be at the 25th percentile, median, or 75th percentile. You’ve been meaning to address this issue, but have just not gotten around to it - now is the time. Read all »

Per Section 8116 of the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act, as a condition of receiving Appropriation Act funded contracts in excess of $1 million, contractors can not require employees or independent contractors to submit civil rights claims or claims of sexual assault or harassment to binding arbitration.  The prohibition even applies retroactively to existing employees and independent contractors who may have already signed employment contracts requiring mandatory arbitration.  The law also requires prime contractors to certify by June 17, 2010 that all of their covered subcontractors are in compliance with the requirement.

This provision is known as the “Franken amendment” after Senator Al Franken (D-MN) who sponsored the legislation and became effective on February 17, 2010.  In a memorandumof the same date, Shay Assad, Undersecretary of Defense for Procurement and Acquisition Policy instructed all Contracting Officers to modify existing contracts that are expected to receive 2010 appropriations by adding a new DFARS clause 252.222-7999.   The clause will be required in both contracts and task orders including GSA schedule task orders, though contracts for commercial items are exempt.

Service providers accustomed to 3 - 4% annual rate escalations on multi-year contracts may be surprised by the rate escalation at their next negotiation.  Nationwide, economic conditions have led to dramatic decreases in the Employment Cost Index (ECI), a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that tracks changes in private sector compensation which is used by Federal agencies when negotiating out-year escalations.  This, accompanied by President Obama’s executive order holding federal civilian 2010 pay raises at 2.0%, and the 1.4% pay raise proposed in the 2011 budget, will impact Contracting Officers’ negotiation stance.

Federal contractors, especially those in the Washington, D.C. metro area less affected by the recession, who continue to give 3 - 5% pay raises to attract and retain employees do this at risk of taking a hit to their bottom line.  Additionally, the 2010 package extends the A-76 moratorium on new public-private competitions for federal work and requires non-DoD federal agencies to annually review whether work now being done by private contractors should be insourced to federal employees.  Need assistance with government contract negotiation?  Contact Aronson & Company’s Government Contracts Solutions Group.

On 1/22/10, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)  designated the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti as a qualified disaster by for federal tax purposes.  That same day, both houses of Congress passed legislation allowing taxpayers to deduct cash contributions made to the Haiti earthquake relief effort before March 1, 2010 deductible on the taxpayer’s 2009 tax return.  Contributions before 2/28/10 can be claimed on either a 2009 or 2010 return, but not both; Contributions after that date but before the end of the year can only be claimed on a 2010 return.  Cash contributions include amounts charged to credit cards and amounts sent to charities by text on a cell phone; a copy of the credit card or cell phone bill will be accepted as supporting the donation.  This law changes the rule that deductions must be made before year end (December 31st) to be deductible on the tax return for that year, but only for those charities assisting in Haiti and only for a short time.  Note that this rule only applies to individuals who itemize their deductions.  Additional IRS guidance is available at the following links: (1) Providing Earthquake Relief to Haiti; (2) Feb. 28 is Last Day for Special Tax Option for Haiti Relief Donations.  Have tax questions?  Contact Aronson & Company’s tax experts: Mark Gossart, Officer: (301) 231-6278 or mgossart@aronsoncompany.com.

GSA’s 2010 standard mileage reimbursement rate for privately owned vehicles (POV) used for official travel has been decreased to $0.50 cents per mile effective January 1, 2010 (Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) Amendment 2010-01).  This matches the IRS’ decision to decrease the 2010 optional standard mileage rate by 5 cents citing decreased transportation costs.  By law, GSA is responsible for reviewing the privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rate on an annual basis.  However, by law, GSA may not exceed the standard mileage reimbursement rate for POV’s established by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  As in 2009 and 2008, GSA’s 2010 mileage reimbursement rate continues to equal the IRS rate.  For complete information on FTR rates see the GSA Rate page; see archived GSA (POV) mileage reimbursement rates here.

E-Verify, always a controversial topic, may be moving to the forefront of many Federal Contractors’ attention with the recent inclusion of the Employment Eligibility Verification Clause (FAR 52.222-54) into GSA Schedule contracts. With this change, thousands of contractors likely found themselves needing to comply with E-Verify regulations for the first time. In order to assist the contractor community with understanding and utilizing E-Verify, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will be offering multiple sessions of free training called “Federal Contractor E-Verify” next week. The training course includes a topic overview, a demonstration of the proper use and key features of the E-Verify system, and a question and answer session. Read all »

Worker classification is one of those tricky compliance issues that everybody knows about, but nobody wants to talk about. With more and more states passing legislation to penalize employers who misclassify workers and independent contractors, audits are a valid concern for all businesses. Don’t be intimidated by this important topic - instead, be informed! Join Aronson & Company on March 3rd for a unique seminar that addresses how your company can prepare for audits and reduce liability.

Did you know that:

• The IRS has begun randomly selecting 2,000 taxpayers each year for the next three years for a comprehensive employment tax law compliance audit?
• Independent contractor misclassification is now more likely than ever before to result in heavy fines and penalties?
• Worker misclassification invites trouble with the IRS, Department of Labor, and state and local governments?
• All companies are vulnerable, but construction and government contracting businesses are being targeted in particular?

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GSA expanded the scope of available services by adding new Special Item Numbers (SINs) to its Information Technology (IT) and Financial and Business Solutions (FABS) Schedule Contracts, adding commercial satellite communications and grant management support services, respectively. A detailed description of each of the new SINs can be found after the jump. Please contact Aronson & Company to learn more about how these new offerings could enhance your GSA Schedule contract.

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