The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act

January 31, 2018

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The 2018 NDAA contains many significant changes to DoD operations and organization, as well as some government-wide changes.

This is a guest post from Dave Moyer, part-time senior analyst for TAPE, LLC.

As a member of a group of adjunct professors for the Graduate School USA, we collectively develop abstracts of pertinent, current legislation for use by the group in multiple class presentations. We attempt to author papers that enlighten our students and occasionally will develop papers that are of use to entities working in the government arena.

The follow paper was developed by four of the financial management professors and contains information that would be of interest to government contractors. In my ongoing capacity as a senior analyst for TAPE, I condensed this information, which is available in the public domain, in an effort to make it a handy thumbnail of the latest NDAA.

On December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (Public Law 115-91). It contains many significant changes to DoD operations and organization, as well as some government-wide changes. Here are some of the important changes, starting with a new law with government-wide applicability:

Subtitle G of the NDAA is referred to as the Modernizing Government Technology Act. It establishes a Technology Modernization Fund and a Technology Modernization Board. The Act also authorizes any agency (not just DoD) to establish an information technology working capital fund (WCF) to improve, retire, or replace existing systems, and for any project, program, or activity related to IT modernization.

An interesting aspect of these WCFs will be their funding sources, and the length of availability of the funds. Agencies are given the authority to transfer other appropriations into the fund, and the WCFs may also receive discretionary appropriations. Thus, the WCFs won’t rely on sales to customers to earn revenue.

In addition, due to their nature, currently WCF balances are always available without fiscal year limitations (that is, no-year). This is no longer true, as these WCF balances will be available for only three years after the year in which funds are transferred in, or the appropriation is received from Congress. After three years, any unobligated balances revert to the general fund in Treasury.

Section 806 of the NDAA amends Title 41 of the US Code and applies to all federal agencies. The micro-purchase threshold increases from $3,000 to $10,000.

The following are some DoD-specific provisions to be aware of:

Section 827: Directs a pilot program on recovering costs from contractors whose protests are denied by the Government Accountability Office.
Section 831: Redefines Major Defense Acquisition Programs and Defense Business Systems.
Section 832: Prohibits the use of lowest price technically acceptable source selection process for engineering and manufacturing development contracts for major defense acquisition programs.
Sections 841-844: Numerous enhancements relating to the acquisition work force.
Section 854: Pilot program for multiyear contracts up to 10 years in length.
Section 905: Adds qualifications for appointment as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and the Deputy CFO. Adds duties and powers to the Under Secretary’s position.
Section 906: Redesignates Principal Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense as Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense.
Section 910: Establishes a Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense. This will be the number three ranking person in the department, below the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, but above the Under Secretaries.
Section 921: Adds qualifications for appointment as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management in each of the three military departments.
Section 925: Moves background and security investigations from OPM to DoD.
Section 1002: Adds a new chapter to Title 10 consolidating, codifying, and improving authorities and requirements relating to the audit of DoD financial statements. Among many other changes, the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) plan is now called Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation (FIAR) plan.
Section 1004: By mid-March 2018, DoD must submit a report to Congress ranking every DoD component/agency on their auditability.
Section 1103: The temporary authority for DoD to offer Voluntary Separation Incentive Program payments up to $40,000 (rather than the old $25,000) will not expire on Sept 30, 2018. It is extended to Sept 30, 2021.
Section 1648: Requires a report to Congress by May 1, 2018 on the termination of the dual-hat arrangement for the Commander of the United States Cyber Command.
Section 2802: Operation and Maintenance (O&M) appropriations may be used for construction up to $2,000,000 (up from the previous $1,000,000). Also, the unspecified MILCON limit goes from $3,000,000 to $6,000,000.
Section 2803: The Secretary of each component will adjust the $6,000,000 unspecified MILCON limit each fiscal year to reflect the local construction cost index, but the limit may not exceed $10,000,000.
Section 2805: The Secretary of each component may use O&M funds to replace building damaged or destroyed by natural disasters or terrorism incidents, with a limit of $50,000,000 per fiscal year.

Click here to access the 2018 NDAA.

SBA Issues and Legislative Initiatives

The All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program

SBA had a well-established mentor-protégé program (MPP) for SBA 8(a) certified firms but lacked an MPP program for other small business concerns and specifically, one for specialized certified concerns such as WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, & HubZone. The 2010 Jobs Act and 2013 NDAA gave SBA the authorization to address this by establishing an all-encompassing mentor-protégé program. Ms. Sandi Clifford, deputy director of the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), visited the Mid-Tier Advocacy (MTA) earlier this year to discuss the program. Here are some of the highlights of this candid and informative discussion: As Ms. Clifford explained, mentor services to protégés include: • Management and technical assistance (internal business management systems) • Financial assistance (in the form of equity investments and/or loans) • Contracting assistance (contracting processes, capabilities acquisitions and performance) • International trade education (learn how to export, international trade business plan, finding markets) • Business development assistance (strategy, finding contracting and partnership opportunities) • General and/or administrative assistance (business processes and support) As administrators of the program, SBA provides: • Central HQ as opposed to 8(a) distributive model • Online application – certify.sba.gov • Online course tutorial requirement • Annual review and evaluation • Template agreements, i.e., MPA (Mentor-Protégé Agreement) Other All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) details: • A protégé may generally only have one mentor at a time; SBA may approve a second (two is the maximum) where no competition exists, or if the protégé registers under a new NAICS or otherwise requires new mentor skills. • Both protégé and mentor must be for-profit (with exception of protégé being an agriculture cooperative). • A mentor may have no more than three protégés at same time (no lifetime limit). • A participant can be both a protégé and mentor at the same time, if there is no competition or conflict. • The ASMPP is self-certifying and is open to businesses who qualify as small in their primary NAICS code, or who are seeking business development assistance in a secondary NAICs where they also qualify as small. • SBA will not authorize MPAs in second NAICS in which firm has never performed any work; or where firm would only bring “small” status to Mentor and nothing else. • Existing 8(a) firms in last 6 months of the 8(a) program may transfer their MPA to the ASMPP via the online application process. Coordinate with 8(a) office to fine tune the process but there is no reapplication required. • Application requirements include upload of business plan, but no financial statements or tax returns. • JV agreements: ASMPP will not review and approve joint venture agreements. How to apply for the ASMPP: • Applicants are required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting their mentor/protégé application. • Complete your business profile in certify.SBA.gov. • Evaluate and select your mentor prior to applying. This is not a matching program. SBA will not find a mentor for you. • Begin the ASMPP application process. • Protégés and mentors must complete the online tutorial and have their certificate of completion and all other required documents ready for upload Thank you to Sandi Clifford, Deputy Director, All Small Mentor-Protégé Program, for this helpful overview. TAPE has mentored several small businesses over it’s life as a large business (we’re large in some NAICS codes, though still small in others) and it has been gratifying, satisfying, and integral to our success. As protégés ourselves, we have benefitted from working with some really classy large businesses, and have also had the experience of being a protégé and really getting no tangible benefits. We are currently working with two small businesses, and negotiating ASMPP agreements. You can learn more about the ASMPP on the SBA site. To join MTA and attend future events like this one, please visit www.midtier.org.

Bill Jaffe

August 23, 2017