Acquisition and Business Policy Council Spotlight - March
By: Sebastian Herrick
March 16, 2023

In this edition: PSC to Host Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for DIB Resilience | GSA Releases OASIS+ Final Draft RFP | GSA Extends Policy Providing Inflation Relief | PSC Comments on FTC's Proposed Rule on Non-Competes | PSC Comments on Credit for Lower-Tier Subcontracting

PSC Policy Update

April 7 - PSC to Host Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for DIB Resilience
Please join PSC for our Government Affairs Committee meeting on Friday, April 7, at noon as we host Ms. Halimah Najieb-Locke, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience at the U.S. Department of Defense. Ms. Locke is responsible for assessing the health of the Defense Industrial Base and recommending key policies, investments and actions designed to strengthen the capacity and resilience of the National Business Base.

GSA Releases OASIS+ Final Draft RFP
On March 6, 2023, the General Services Administration released its second draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for its highly anticipated OASIS+ multiple agency contract vehicle. This is expected to be the final draft released before release of the RFP, which is expected in the coming month. PSC was pleased to see that GSA accepted its comments on the first draft RFP requesting removal of small business domains from greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure qualifications. A similar proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation specifically exempts small businesses from GHG disclosures. GSA has also provided two Question and Answer documents on the SAM.gov posting in response to industry comments.

GSA Extends Policy Providing Inflation Relief
On March 6, 2023, GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive Jeff Koses and GSA’s Assistant Commissioner for FAS Office of Policy and Compliance Mark Lee jointly signed Supplement 2 of Acquisition Letter MV-22-02, which extends until September 30, 2023, a temporary moratorium on certain limitations contained in GSA economic price adjustment (EPA) contract clauses. The underlying letter, dated March 17, 2022, reflected several PSC comments on this policy.

PSC Action Update

PSC Comments on FTC's Proposed Rule on Non-Competes
On March 20, 2023, PSC submitted comments on the FTC's proposed rule to ban non-compete clauses. PSC’s focus areas were: (1) general satisfaction with states approaches to non-competes; (2) potential impacts on IP and other sensitive business information; (3) outsized impacts on small businesses; and (4) treatment of key personnel in federal solicitations.

PSC Comments on Credit for Lower-Tier Subcontracting
On February 17, 2023, PSC submitted comments in response to a Small Business Administration proposed rule on "Credit for Lower Tier Subcontracting and Other Amendments." PSC highlighted its support for small business utilization at all levels of Federal contracting but noted the proposed rule contains language that makes required information unobtainable or inconsistent among submitters. PSC's comments included several recommendations to address such issues. You can read the comments here.