SBA’s last inflationary adjustment was five years ago, in 2014.  SBA estimates that this inflation adjustment will enable approximately 89,730 firms – competing under receipts-based size standards that are currently above SBA’s size standards – to gain small business status and become small again.  As SBA explains:

The table below shows the current size standards and the adjusted size standards:

Notably, SBA has not yet completed its substantive review of the size standards, which it is supposed to complete every five years and has been due since 2017.  In April, SBA said that it “plans to issue proposed rules on all receipts-based size standards in the near future.”  Potentially, these forthcoming proposed rules could mean more increases to the size standards.

The Small Business Act still requires that new size standards be approved by the Administrator through a rulemaking process. The Runway Extension Act does not include an effective date. As a result, it is the opinion of many that organizations hoping to take advantage of the Runway Extension Act immediately, will have to wait until the SBA changes regulations, including 13 C.F.R. § 121.104 (“How does SBA calculate annual receipts?”), and potentially also issue guidance to contractors on how to use the new rule.

There is, however, a point of contention regarding the effective/start date of the Runway Extension Act. Federal courts have previously ruled in Johnson v. United States that, “absent clear congressional direction, it [the act] takes effect on its enactment date,” which for the Runway Extension Act would be as of the date the act was enacted. Based on this legal understanding, some contractors may choose to make bids on contracts based on the five-year look-back period. Doing so, however, may have consequences for a contractor’s proposals and their standing with the SBA.

The Office of Government Contracting and Business Development (GCBD) is drafting revisions to SBA’s regulations and SBA’s forms to implement the Runway Extension Act. Until the Small Business Administration promulgates regulations in accordance with the Act, there simply is no easy or definitive answer to the magical question of: “Does the calculation of three years or five years apply to firms in industries with size standards calculated based on average annual gross receipts?”

Stay Tuned …

DMC Management Services, LLC is the industry leader in GSA Schedule 48, SIN 653.9 annual sales generated since 2012. To date, DMC has produced in excess of $45M in reported and consumed GSA Sales under its Long-Term Lodging, Schedule 48, SIN 653.9 Contract!.

• Lodging receipts are required for all lodging payments
• The actual cost of lodging not to exceed the full locality lodging per diem rate will be paid
• The full meals and incidental expense (M&IE) will no longer be reduced by 75% or 55%

Upon signature by the President, the Flat Rate Per Diem policy no longer applies as cited in the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), pars. 020303 and 020309. An official change to the JTR is forthcoming and will be retroactive back to the date the NDAA was signed. Once approved, it will be posted to the DTMO website under “Immediate JTR Changes”. (https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/changesjtr.cfm), on the “Notable Policy Changes” (https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/Notable_Policy_Changes.cfm) webpage.

In order to proactively fight against alleged fraudulent activity in the System for Award Management (SAM), the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a rule that required all entities to “provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that you are the authorized Entity Administrator before your registration will be activated.” On June 11, 2018, GSA issued an update to the notarized letter requirement in two parts.

The first, which went into effect on June 11, 2018, applies to entities “who create or update their registration in SAM.gov to apply only for federal assistance opportunities such as grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs.” These entities no longer need to have an approved Entity Administrator notarized letter on file before their registration is activated.

The second, which goes into effect on June 29, 2018, applies to “all non-Federal entities who create or update their registration in SAM.gov, and these entities also no longer need to have an approved Entity Administrator notarized letter on file before their registration is activated.” It is important to note that all entities, regardless of their purpose of registration, must mail the original and signed notarized letter to the Federal Service Desk within thirty (30) days of activation or risk having their registration deactivated.

Additionally, in support of its continuing efforts to increase security and to prevent fraudulent activity, GSA is implementing a new login process for SAM.gov which takes effect on June 29, 2018.  As a result of the new process, all users attempting to log in to SAM.gov on or after June 29, 2018 will be automatically directed to create a Login.gov user account.  Importantly, the current SAM.gov username and password will no longer work and users will be unable to access SAM.gov until they have created a Login.gov account.  In order to create a Login.gov account users need:

1. The email address and password associated with their SAM.gov account;
2. Access to the above mentioned email account for all confirmation emails; and
3. A working telephone that can receive the security code sent from Login.gov.

For further assistance with creating a new account, please visit Login.gov. As a caveat, it is important for users to utilize the email address that is currently associated with their SAM.gov account. Using the same email address will allow Sam.gov to automatically migrate the user’s role from SAM to Login.gov account.  Although a user can choose to use a new and distinct email address for their Login.gov account, the entity roles currently assigned in SAM will not automatically migrate and users will be required to manually assign entity roles which could create unnecessary delays when updating existing registrations. If a user does not remember which email address is associated with their current SAM.gov account, or if a user needs to update the email address associated with their SAM.gov account, the user can view and update their account settings at www.SAM.gov. All users must be cognizant of the impending deadline of June 29, 2018. Once this date passes, all SAM.gov usernames and passwords will be de-activated and users will no longer be able to access their accounts with those credentials.