Government Contracting in 2014
With the holidays this week I will only be writing one blog. I think it is appropriate that we take a minute to reflect on the legislation that passed last week relative to the budget. There are two significant pieces of legislation to the small business government contractor. The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act and the Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) are these significant pieces of legislation. These bills basically keep defense spending at the 2013 levels. While this is not an increase, it is better than the severe cuts that would have been put in effect with sequestration. As we discussed in the blog last week about the Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act, how the country pays for these "protected" levels of spending may be debated for some time. The key is, that the government can go back to work and operate with some certainty that the budget is fairly established for the next 2 years. This will help with stability and with continuity. So the reductions in programs will not be as severe as originally feared for 2014. This should help small business in getting some contracts that maybe have been held up due to uncertainty. The money should start to flow and the contractors should start to see work coming their way.
While this is certainly good news, let us not forget too quickly the problems over the last couple of years with issues such as sequestration, with shutting down the government, with continuing resolutions. All of these issues tell me that there is a management problem in Washington D.C. We should continue to encourage our public servants to do a better job of management and we should remember those that were ineffective when it comes time to vote.
Meanwhile, I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. All the best in the New Year and don't hesitate to call us if you need any help.