The NVSBC Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year Award recognizes one federal representative or…
VETS First – Casualty of Friendly Fire
VA must immediately halt ALL planned solicitations and develop an acquisition strategy complying with VETS First
Why VETS First?
“To care for him who shall have borne the battle.” – Abraham Lincoln
VET First supports Veteran owned small businesses by prioritizing them – Supporting the U.S. economy, assisting Veterans and fulfilling the agency’s mission.
Veteran owned businesses uniquely understand the needs of military contracts, they hire Veterans, are less expensive and have greater quality measures than large, non-Veteran owned companies.
VA Strategies to Avoid VETS First
- Requesting other agencies contract for VA services
- Illegally tightening specifications to eliminate Veteran-owned small businesses from competition for service
- Hiring out VA contracting functions to large private sectors companies
- Actively developing polices that do not support VETS First
- Implementing “Deviations” without public comment
- No overbite of field contracting activities
VA’s actions negatively impact over 7,000 Veteran and service disabled Veteran owned small businesses – Employing hundreds of thousands of Americans and Veterans.
Positive Multiplier Effect of VETS First:
- Veterans hire Veterans at a higher rate than non-Veteran employers.
- Statistically, the best method of support for a Veteran is to provide a meaningful job.
- Veteran owned small businesses are based in and support their local communities.
Congress needs to:
Halt all VA contracts actions which do not support VETS First
Request GAO Investigate VA’s disregard of VETS First
Conduct hearings to hold VA accountable to follow VETS First
History of VA Working Against the Veteran Community
Snapshot
- The Government Accountability Office has ruled multiple times that the VA needs to implement VETS First
- The Supreme Court Unanimously Ruled that the VA is in violation of the law.
- 41 Members of Congress have signed the Amici Curiae Brief in Support of VETS First.
Overview
Nation invested millions in training these military service members. VETS First is intended to recoup this expense giving veterans an opportunity to continue service to our Nation.
– The VA was not complying.
In 2006, Congress passed Public Law 109-461, The Veteran Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act, which contained a provision known as VETS First that established a preference for contracting with Veterans and service-connected disabled Veteran-owned small businesses.
– The VA chose to ignore this provision.
In 2011, the company Aldevra protested to the GAO that the VA failed to follow the law. The GAO found that the VA had violated VETS First. Over the years, the GAO has heard similar claims, and has consistently sided with Veteran-owned small businesses.
– The VA refused to follow the GAO’s direction.
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 implementing VETS First and directed the department to use the “Rule of Two” before awarding a contract to a non-Veteran supplier. The rule of two is the policy that the VA shall award contract on the basis of competition restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled by Veterans if the contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that two or more small business concerns owned and controlled by Veterans will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.
The U.S. District Court of Newark ruled in May 2017 that the VA’s Ability One program does not trump the VETS First program; in fact, the opposite is true.
