Compliance Stuff

On August 22, 2025, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a  proposed rule  to increase its monetary based small business size standards for 263 industries (259 receipts-based and four assets-based). The SBA also announced that another proposed rule for employee-based size standards will be issued in the near future. Small business government contractors that are close to their current size standards should closely review the proposed rule to determine its potential impacts.   Background On SBA’s Size Standards Under  SBA’s regulations , a business concern qualifies as small for a government procurement if the concern, including its affiliates, meets the size standard associated with the North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) code identified in the solicitation.     As described in the  NAICS Manual , the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) assigns NAICS codes to all domestic industries. SBA then correspondingly assigns a ...

  The SBA dropped a bombshell   proposed  rule   last week that it estimates could result in an additional $6 billion in government contract task or delivery orders going to   small businesses . The rule would confirm that the the advantageous (though occasionally maligned)  Rule of Two  applies to competitions under multiple award contracts (MACs). The increased use of large multi-award contracts helps and hurts small businesses These  huge  contracting vehicles—Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts, Multi-Agency Contracts, Blanket Purchase Agreements—are generally indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (“IDIQ”) where those companies that hold the contracts later compete for task or delivery orders placed by authorized agencies. Over the last decade or so, these vehicles have grown in popularity. Though they almost always include a small business reserve, some advocates have complained that the small businesses even if they are awarded ar...

  The Small Business Administration ("SBA") recently issued a   proposed rule   that changes the effect of a concern's size recertification following mergers and acquisitions ("M&A") activity . Notably, the proposed rule is ostensibly an omnibus proposal as it covers a host of issues under SBA's socio-economic contracting programs. The proposed rule, for example, includes changes to SBA's negative control affiliation provisions ( discussed here ), joint venture rules, mentor-protégé rules, and others. Comments on the proposed rule are due on or before October 7, 2024. SBA's recertification rules have long been the subject of debate, particularly as it relates to eligibility after a concern recertifies as an "other than small business" following an M&A event. Under the current regulatory regime, a small business is generally considered small for the life of the contract, including for orders issued against a long-term contract. Thus,...