ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD html 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Set-Aside Alert - 6-9-17 - Court says VA Rule of Two for vets overrides contracting with disabled </TITLE> <meta name="description" content="The premier federal government contract news and information service written especially for small, minority and women-owned businesses"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="govcon, contracting, contractor, small business, set-aside, set aside, setaside, government contract, OSDBU, small disadvantaged, federal contract, HUBZone, HUB Zone, minority-owned, woman-owned, 8a, 8(a), minority owned, MBE, WBE, WOB, SDB, DBE"> </HEAD> <BODY LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000"> <!--<center> --> <table> <tr><td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td> <td width="84%"> <table> <tr><td> <IMG SRC="set-aside.gif" alt="Set-Aside Alert logo" WIDTH="341" HEIGHT="70" BORDER="0" ALT="Set Aside Alert logo"> </td> <td valign="top"> <FONT FACE="garamond" SIZE="3" COLOR="#D00000"> <i><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> Federal Market Intelligence<br> for Small Business</b></i> </font> </td> </tr> </table> <p> <center> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" color="#D00000"><b> <!--<a href="inside.htm">Wash Insider</a> | --> <a href="saanews.htm">Front Page Headlines </a> | <a href="calendar.htm">Calendar of Events</a> | <a href="awards.htm">Contract Awards</a> | <a href="new8as.htm">Newly-Certified Firms</a> | <a href="dodawds.htm">DoD Small Business Awards</a> | <a href="teamopps.htm">Teaming</a> | <a href="procwatch.htm">Procurement Watch</a> | <a href="http://www.sba8a.com/SAASubscribers/toc.htm">Past Issues</a> | <!--<a href="http://www.setasidealert.com/events2.htm">Meet Us!</a> | --> </b> </font> </center> <table><tr><td> <!-- ENTER DATE HERE --> <left><FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <i> Jun 9 2017 </i> </font> </left> </td> <td>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td> <td> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <right><i> Next issue: Jun 23 2017 </i></right> </font> </td> </tr></table> <hr> <p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"><tr> <!-- Begin main column --> <P> <td width="5%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="60%"> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial"> <!-- REPLACE THE STORY HEADLINE AND CONTENT WITH THE APPLICABLE STORY HEAD AND CONTENT. SAVE THE STORY AS STORY1.HTM THRU STORY99.HTM. --> <P> <!--<h2> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> news analysis: </h2> --> <h1> Court says VA Rule of Two for vets overrides contracting with disabled </h1> <!--<h4> </h4> --> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the legal contest that pitted veterans against the disabled, veterans won, according to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The judge decided that Congress intended that the Veterans Affairs Dept. make a top priority of contracting with veterans and service-disabled veterans, overruling a previous law that favored contracting with nonprofits hiring blind and disabled people. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The court upheld the VA s Rule of Two mandate under the Veterans Benefits Act of 2006. Under that law, the VA must perform a Rule of Two analysis on all procurements to determine if there are two or more veteran-owned, or service-disabled veteran-owned, small businesses that are likely to bid, and capable of doing the work at a fair and reasonable price offering best value to the government. </p> <p><b>AbilityOne</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The court said that at the VA, the Rule of Two for veterans and service-disabled veterans is a higher priority than the previous law requiring federal agencies to buy through the AbilityOne program. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; AbilityOne is an independent agency that oversees nonprofits that hire and train workers with severe disabilities. Federal agencies are required to buy certain products and services from AbilityOne. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The federal claims decision made it clear that at the VA, the Rule of Two requirements overrule the regulations requiring AbilityOne. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  The court concluded that the VBA requires the VA to perform the Rule of Two analysis for all new procurements, whether the product or service is covered by the AbilityOne Program or not, according to an analysis of the decision by PilieroMazza PLLC law firm. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The judges said the VA cannot contract with AbilityOne, unless it has determined that there are not two or more veteran-owned small businesses capable and willing to do the work at a fair and reasonable price offering best value. </p> <p><b>Kingdomware</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The decision also cited the Supreme Court s Kingdomware decision last year, in which the justices determined that Congress intended that all procurements at the VA be subjected to the Rule of Two. If two eligible veteran-owned firms were identified and submitted bids, then the contract must be awarded to one of them. </p> <p><b>PDS vs. AbilityOne & IFB</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The bid protest lawsuit was filed by PDS Consultants Inc. (PDS v. United States, Case No. 16-1063C - Fed. Cl. May 30, 2017), a veteran-owned eyewear firm that seeks VA contracts. PDS objected to the VA s purchases of visual aid products from AbilityOne. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The defendants included not only AbilityOne but also IFB Solutions Inc. as an intervener. IFB executives told the Winston-Salem Journal that 52 jobs are at stake, including 45 filled by employees who are blind. IFB has provided eyeglasses to the VA since 2000. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Attorneys said that the defendants are considering an appeal. </p <p> <b>More information:</b> PilieroMazza analysis: <a href="http://goo.gl/eVXkLJ">http://goo.gl/eVXkLJ</a><br> Winston-Salem Journal: <a href="http://goo.gl/7WXRxY">http://goo.gl/7WXRxY</a> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font> </td> <!-- Begin secondary column --> <td valign="top" width="35%"> </p> <p> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" COLOR="#000000"> <p> <a href="story1.htm"> <h4> Court says VA Rule of Two for vets overrides contracting with disabled </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story2.htm"> <h4> New executives named at SBA </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story3.htm"> <h4> No more triple credit for three certifications? </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story4.htm"> <h4> DHS halts $1.5B small biz contract </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story5.htm"> <h4> 4th Quarter rush could be early </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story6.htm"> <h4> VA vendors: don t name VA in ads </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="column.htm"> <h4> Column: What you need to know before you search for a mentor </h4> </a> </p> <p> <h4><a href="inside.htm"> Washington Insider: </h4> </p> <p> <h4> <ul> <li> Sect. 809 Panel s report <li> VA assistance brief gone <li> GSA IG advises savings from schedules contracts <li> Bill to examine if MACs are good for small vendors </ul> </h4> </a> <p> </p> </FONT> </p> <p> <p> </td> </tr> </table> <font face="verdana,tahoma,arial" size="2"> <form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/goswish"> <p>Find all past issues containing these words: <br> <input type="text" name="query" size=30> &nbsp;&nbsp; <input type="submit" value="Search"> <input type="reset" value="Reset"></p></form> </p> <br> <hr> <p> Copyright &copy; 2017 Business Research Services Inc. 301-229-5561 All rights reserved. </p> <p> <h6> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> is published by<br> <b>Business Research Services, Inc.</b><br> 4641 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 208<br> Bethesda MD 20814<br> 1-800-845-8420<br> Fax: 877-516-0818<br> <a href="mailto:brspubs@sba8a.com">brspubs@sba8a.com </a> <br> <a href="http://www.sba8a.com">www.sba8a.com</a> <!-- <ul> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com">8(a) Sources</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/order.htm">Our Directories</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/about.htm">Our Company</a> <li><a href="http://www.setasidealert.com">Events & Seminars</a> </ul> --> </h6> </font> </td> <td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td></table> <a title="hits counter" href="http://statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/10553859/0/0486a933/1/" alt="hits counter" style="border:none;"></a> </BODY> </HTML>