On September 19, 2019, ASA, along with the Construction Industry Procurement Coalition (CIPC), sent a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Leadership outlining their priorities in the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  Those priorities include: 

Include House Bill Section 873 (Modification to Small Business Subcontracting)

• This section attempts to clarify the Small Business Administration’s lowertier subcontracting rule. CIPC supports this section which allows for prime contractors the option to count either only first tier subcontractors or all lower-tier subcontractors towards its small business goal.

Include House Bill Section 877 (Exemption of Certain Contracts from the Periodic Inflation Adjustments to the Acquisition-Related Dollar Threshold) 

• This section exempts the Federal Miller Act from threshold increases due to indexing for inflation.  The Miller Act bond threshold should be exempted from the required indexing in Title 41 because periodic increases means that subcontractors and suppliers on federal projects will have no payment protection on increasingly larger projects.  Many subcontractors and suppliers on federal construction projects are small contractors for whom not getting paid could be catastrophic to their businesses.  According to data produced by the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), raising the bond threshold from $150,000 to $200,000 increases the federal government’s annual exposure to $300 million.  CIPC supports the inclusion of this section in the final NDAA bill.  

Include House Bill Section 873 (Modification to Small Business Subcontracting)

• CIPC supports this section which allows for prime contractors the option to count towards its small business goals either only first tier subcontractors or all lower tier subcontractors. 

Exclude House Bill Section 827 (Competition Requirements for Purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI))

• This section repeals the Levin provision, which is the only remaining restraint on FPI’s unfair competition with the private sector. The Levin provision helps to weaken the mandatory source provision that FPI enjoys at the expense of the private sector, including small businesses.

Include House Bill Section 828 (Enhanced Post-Award Debriefing Rights)

• CIPC supports inclusion as it will lower the threshold for mandatory debriefs for unsuccessful bidders by lowering the threshold for DOD contracts.  In addition, CIPC will like to work with the committee on expanding post-award debriefs to civilian agencies.