Alston & Bird Government Contracts Blog

Advice to Contractors & Grant Recipients

Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity: Biden Implements New Reporting Requirements on IT Government Contractors

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On May 12. 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order aimed at improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity by curtailing data breaches and malicious cyber campaigns. The Order comes in response to a number of recent cybersecurity incidents, including a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline Co. that caused a temporary shutdown, resulting in gas shortages along the Eastern Seaboard and a nationwide spike in fuel prices. The Order seeks to establish a partnership between the Federal Government and the private sector to ensure a more secure cyber environment, creating a Cyber Safety Review [...]Read more

Is There a Road Forward for Biden’s Infrastructure Plans?

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On March 31, 2021 President Biden unveiled his American Jobs Plan in the form of two massive spending and tax proposals. Policy makers in Washington are actively debating and preparing to legislate based on these proposals. The first proposal, totaling $2.3 trillion, is focused on traditional infrastructure improvements, broadly defined, and includes highways, bridges, ports, airports, and transit; broadband; clean water; electric-grid upgrades; upgrades to residential, commercial, school, and federal buildings; investments in the care economy to raise wages and expand services; and investments [...]Read more

Affiliation and Control Under SBA

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The Paycheck Protection Loan program created by the CARES Act thrust the U.S. Small Business Administration’s complicated size standards into the spotlight for many companies that never before waded into those muddy waters.  None of SBA’s rules frustrated businesses that otherwise thought they were “small” more than the rule of “affiliation”, which requires concerns, when determining size, to include the size of other entities under common control.  A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is a timely reminder that the concept of “affiliation”, in the context of federal [...]Read more

Biden Administration Seeking Big Changes to “Made in America” Requirements

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On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order, titled "Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers," aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing and increasing transparency in procurement for federal contracts. While the exemption for information technology as a commercial item remains untouched – though to be studied – and while the Order does not modify the rules for acquisitions subject to the Trade Agreements Act, the Order may yet have a significant impact on contractors. President Biden’s Order revokes several prior [...]Read more

The Moving America Forward Act: If Passed, Will Result in Increased Opportunities for Infrastructure Work and Contracting With the Federal Government

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Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Moving America Forward Act (H.R. 2). Its purpose is to invest in American infrastructure and to create jobs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. As of this posting the bill is now in the Senate.  The President has expressed opposition to the bill’s passage, despite general statements of support for rebuilding America’s infrastructure. If it passes in the Senate and is signed into law by the President, the Act could result in the investment of more than $1.5 trillion in: (1) rebuilding highways, bridges, transit and rail facilities; [...]Read more