Spring training is an important ritual for baseball, but can also be vital for government contractors. Thinking of taking your favorite customers to the ballpark? Think again. Time and time again government contractors – and their customers – forget that ethics rules sharply limit the gifts you can give and that they can accept. Don’t have your business bogged down in ethical “extra innings”. Contact Allen Federal today at info@allenfederal.com and we’ll give your team the training it needs to enjoy baseball season – and federal buying season.
President Trump’s proclivity to get involved in the business of other companies is causing a substantial disruption to ordinary corporate decision-making, according to a recent article from Bloomberg Government. The issues of how and whether to respond to Presidential criticism have made their way all the way to corporate board rooms, where directors try to come up with policies that give them the best chance to grow their companies, while trying to steer clear of an evolving political minefield. While the latest confrontations have come with commercial firms, Read more
GSA Federal Acquisition Service Deputy Commissioner Kevin Youel Page stated last week that his agency intends to move forward, at least for now, with plans to collect transactional sales data from GSA Multiple Award Schedule service contractors, even while acknowledging that there is virtually no chance the agency will be able to provide customers with accurate price comparison information on such sales. Page told an audience gathered to hear a panel discussion on TDR that transactional sales data for services might still provide useful Read more
The Trump Administration appears to be interested in maintaining security across the federal IT enterprise, according to remarks made at last week’s “Government of the Future Event. A clearer outline of what this means is coming soon from the Administration, said Bill Zielinski, GSA FAS Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the IT Category. Contractors should check their news sources for what a security roadmap might look like. Zielinski also sees more opportunities for Shared Services, requirements consolidation, and combined multi-agenc Read more
Although President Trump has issued numerous Executive Orders since coming into office, none have yet to undo new requirements the Obama Administration placed on government contractors. The most significant of these EO’s deals with fair pay and safe workplaces. Now ensconced in regulation, the requirement mandates that contractors notify agencies of any violations in federal labor law that have taken place in the last three years when bidding on a contract with an estimated value of above $500,000. Contractors had expected President Trump to overturn this EO, as well as one on paid leave. While the Administration has not acted, Congress may. Several House members recently introduced a resolution giving Congress 60 days to examine the fair pay rule under the Congressional Review Act. This Act gives Congress the ability to repeal rules it finds objectionable if it acts within the 60 day time frame. Meanwhile, although the rule is on the books, enforcement has been stayed while a lawsuit filed by the Associated Builders and Contractors is adjudicated. As such, while the rule may be onerous, it is unclear if it will ever actually be implemented.