Are You Prepared for Strategic Sourcing?
One of the initiatives generating the biggest buzz in the government right now is “strategic sourcing” and it could have a significant impact on your business if you sell commodotized commercial products and services to the federal government. Criticism that strategic sourcing initiatives duplicate existing contract vehicles, limit competition, and negatively impact small businesses has not dampened enthusiasm from procurement officials. In fact, the White House recently issued a memo which, among other things, creates a multi-agency Strategic Sourcing Leadership Council (SSLC) and requires federal agencies to designate Strategic Sourcing Accountable Officials (SSAO). According to the memo, one task given to SSLC agencies is “issuing and enforcing mandatory use policies for government wide and agency wide strategic sourcing solutions to the extent appropriate.”
Additionally, the memo identifies the General Services Administration (GSA) as being responsible to “promulgate requirements, regulations, and best practices for…strategic sourcing initiatives.” In response, GSA – disheartened by continued complaints that GSA Schedule pricing is too high and bolstered by the $80M in savings already realized for agencies – has made a commitment to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) to institute TEN new FSSIs between FY13 and FY14. Evidence supporting the seriousness of GSA’s dedication to FSSIs can be seen in a recent RFI issued by GSA’s SmartBUY Program for large publisher commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, which could directly compete with GSA Schedule 70. Other commodity areas being considered include Continue reading »
Retroactive Repeal of Sequestration Possible, But Risky
By Amber Corrin, FCW Business of Federal Technology
Impact from the devastating federal budget cuts that could be imposed by sequestration come Jan. 2 could be mitigated, a new analysis suggests, but it is questionable how effective those efforts would be.
Federal agencies currently remain in a state of limbo as government leaders appear either confident, or at least hopeful, that a last-minute deal will avert the 10 percent across-the-board cuts. Even if the lame duck session fails to produce an agreement that nullifies the measure, mandated in last year’s Budget Control Act, there is a strong possibility that sequestration could be retroactively rolled back later in 2013.
That retroactive repeal, Continue reading »
Small Business Subcontractors to Receive Accelerated Payments
The Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-12-16, dated July 11, 2012, required agencies to accelerate payments to prime contractors so they could, in turn, accelerate payments to their small business subcontractors. Our previous blog on that OMB memorandum is located here. As a result DoD has been including a new clause 52.232-99 “Providing Accelerated Payment to Small Business Subcontractors” in their contracts.
The clause requires Continue reading »
Sequestration and What You Can Do to Get Prepared for Government Budget Cuts
Pending and highly potential spending cuts in the defense budget are looming. Sequestration is the term of the times. Sequestration – the automatic, indiscriminate reduction of budgeted funds to levels required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 – will occur on January 2, 2013. Shortly after the President issued an Executive Order on July 31, 2012 that exempts military troops from the effect of sequestration, Congress passed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 which requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare a plan for the reduction of spending of both discretionary appropriations and direct spending.
Sequestration will impact the loss of jobs in the Federal Government and Government contractors. It’s not just the large companies that will experience the results of $54.7 billion in the next fiscal year. These cuts will have a cascading affect on all companies including subcontractors. No doubt this will affect all Government contractors as the impact of the budget cuts will flow throughout all Government – not just military. You can’t just wring your hands over this. You must be prepared. Many agencies have already begun planning for sequestration and Federal Contractors would be wise to do the same. Being proactive means preparing sensibly. Continue reading »
Small Business Prime & Subcontractors to be Paid Faster Under New Rules
Last September, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Memorandum 11-32 “Accelerating Payments to Small Business … “ Pursuant to this memorandum, all executive agencies were instructed, to the extent practicable, to make payments to small business prime contractors within 15 days of receipt of the invoice. The administration is now taking a similar approach to accelerating payments to small business subcontractors. Continue reading »
Request by Lawmakers Regarding 2011 Executive Compensation Benchmark
Normally Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announces the executive compensation benchmark by early May at the latest. By law OMB is required to issue such a determination however, we are now almost to the conclusion of the Government fiscal year and still no announcement.
The benchmark is the median amount accrued over one year for the highest paid employees in management positions at publicly traded U.S. companies with annual sales over $50 million. Compensation includes total amount of wages, salary, bonuses and deferred compensation. However, Continue reading »
Obama Directs Agencies to Reduce FY 2013 Budgets
Though we are still in the midst of fiscal year 2011, President Obama, apparently in an effort to get ahead of the power curve, has instructed agencies to submit fiscal year 2013 budget requests that are at least 10% below current levels. The instructions are contained in an Office and of Management & Budget (OMB) memorandum. The memorandum was signed by OMB Director Jacob Lew and dated August 17th, 2011.
Agencies must submit budget requests that reflect a 5% reduction from Fiscal Year 2011 levels. In addition, agencies must identify additional items that can be eliminated that would result in at least a 10% reduction. Mr. Lew stated in the memorandum that submitting the budgets in this manner provides the information the President will need to finalize the overall budget in accordance with the new spending targets. The OMB memorandum also contains some budget reduction rules the agencies must follow: Continue reading »
Chasing Data – What Happened to Your Favorite Website?
You finally found a Government website that has all the data you need. You save it to your favorites and later visit the site to find that it is gone. Why are the Government websites disappearing?
“As part of the waste cutting efforts, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under Vice President Joe Biden’s direction, will lead an effort to identify and eliminate unneeded websites,” said Jeffrey Zients, chief performance officer and OMB’s deputy director for management.
“The Campaign to Cut Waste includes a 90-day freeze on Continue reading »
UPDATED: A Contractor’s Guide to Surviving the Government Shutdown
Government Shutdown Seems Inevitable
The latest budget negotiations between the House, the Senate and the White House ended without a deal being reached. As a result even previously optimistic souls are now predicting the shutdown will happen. The current continuing resolution expires today (Friday, April 8th). Please see this breaking news story from the Washington Post for a detailed description of the stalled negotiations. Continue reading »
Change Management Agenda for OMB Announced Today
Jeffrey Zients, Acting Director and Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Chief Performance Officer, announced this morning the Change Management Agenda for the OMB, with a top priority of the 2012 budget being a shift to a “cloud first policy”.
This mornings announced change agenda incorporates five key components as well as a strong theme of change. Priority focus is being given to programs that have delivered a track record of results within other agencies, adopting the action steps that worked in other agencies, and a commitment to the tone at the top for the strong need of efficient IT initiatives from the Presidents office. Below are the agenda items:
Continue reading »
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- A Marriage of Inconvenience: GSA Schedule Contracts & The Contractor Code of Business Ethics & Conduct Clause
- Emerging Small Businesses: To Grow Your Business, You Must Plan For Growth
- Government Contracting: Look Before You Leap!
- GSA Schedules – Strategies for Success
- New Employee vs. Independent Contractor Considerations
- Pay on Display – Understanding the Executive Compensation and Subcontractor Data Reporting Requirements & Ramifications
- The GSA Schedule: Your Ticket to the Federal Market (May 2010)
- The New FAR Codes of Conduct and Compliance Program Provisions
- The Seven Deadly Sins (of contract compliance)