NDAA 2020 Small Business Implications

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a one-stop-shop for legislation and provisions pertaining to all agencies. These range from cybersecurity to acquisition to management. Congress passed the 2021 NDAA conference report December 3, 2020.

The NDAA is enormous, so let us look at how small business contractors will be affected by the new legislation. There are several provisions that attempt to improve the procurement environment for small businesses. The NDAA included a provision requiring training of contracting officers and others in the acquisition community on best practices for buying goods and services from small firms and ways to avoid conflicts with the requirements of the Small Business Act.

Lawmakers also officially transferred oversight of the service-disabled veteran-owned small business certification requirements to the Small Business Administration from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The NDAA requires this transfer to happen within two years.

Congress continues to give joint ventures of small businesses more power. In Section 868 of the NDAA, lawmakers said agencies should consider the past performance of these efforts as first tier subcontractors. The move to use first tier subcontractor experience has long been a goal of small business advocacy groups. This seems like a first step in an important change.

Author: Paul McVeigh

Source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/12/policy-winners-and-losers-in-the-defense-authorization-bill/