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NVSBC Testifies Before Congress to Simplify VA Procurement Policies

Wayne Simpson, a member of the National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) and former U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) contracting official, testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations’ to support four bills that will improve procurement practices and oversight for contracts at the VA. This comes after a Supreme Court decision, known as Kingdomware, where the court ruled unanimously that the VA was ignoring the law by avoiding contracting with Veterans through the VETS First program.

The bills – H.R. 2006 H.R. 2749, H.R. 2781 and another yet unnumbered bill – specifically direct the VA to strengthen its acquisitions process. “NVSBC supports any efforts to improve the dysfunction caused by multiple levels of contracting at the VA, as well as improvements to the VA’s procurement process,” said Simpson. “The VA has been avoiding the Supreme Court decision on Kingdomware and we see this legislation as necessary to support Veteran-owned businesses.”

In 2012, Veteran-owned small business Kingdomware Technologies filed a lawsuit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court unanimously ruled the VA was not fully implementing VETS First and directed the department to use the “Rule of Two” for all contracts before awarding a contract to a non-Veteran supplier. VETS First is designed to give preference to qualified Veteran-owned small businesses that continue to proudly serve their country.

Since then, the NVSBC has advocated for the VA to implement VETS First and improve procurement opportunities for veteran small business entrepreneurs engaged in or seeking to enter the Federal marketplace.

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