Small Business Wins in the House's FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act Amendments

On September 23, the House passed H.R. 4350, the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Accompanying the 1,362 pages of legislation were  476 amendments offered by lawmakers. Included in the amendments were several wins for MSGI clients: HUBZone Contractors National Council, GovEvolve, and Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC). These amendments are huge win for the small business community and are the result of months of advocacy. 

• Floor #352 - Transfers decisions for HUBZones to OHA. 
• Floor #314 – Clarifies that the HUBZone price preference applies to task orders. 
• Floor #365 – Raises sole source thresholds for all socioeconomic programs from $4/$7.5 to $8/$10 million (does not eliminate option years, this is total over the life of the contract). 
• Floor #26– Raises small business contracting goals. 
• Floor #186 – Creates category management exemptions for tier 0 contracts. 
• Floor #412 –Requires a company to update their small business status in SAM/notify KO’s if status changes within 2 days. 
• Floor #149–Adds cyber counseling capability to SBDCs. 
• Floor #337 – Requires DoD Report impact of CMMC on small businesses. 

Considering the ongoing hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, adoption of these changes would assist small businesses seeking to succeed in the federal marketplace. In October, MSGI pushed for these amendments to be included in the Senate’s version of the FY2022 NDAA by writing a letter to Senate Small Business Committee Chair, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Ranking Member, Rand Paul of Kentucky. The letter was supported by MSGI clients listed above, as well as the Women Veterans Business Coalition (WVBC), the Small and Emerging Contractors Advisory Forum (SECAF), the Women Construction Owners and Executives (WCOE), and hundreds of independent small businesses across the country. 

Read the Small Business Amendments Support Letter here. 

Access a detailed list of small business amendments in the House FY2022 NDAA here. 

HUBZone Contractors National Council - Cyber Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

Madison Services Group, on behalf of the HUBZone Contractors National Council, is pleased to announce a huge win for small business contractors, the result of months of advocacy. The Department of Defense (DoD) has released the “Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0” – the updated version of the Department’s effort to enhance cybersecurity practices of its federal contractors. Many of the changes made by the DoD come as a result of the Council’s efforts over the past two years to highlight challenges/propose solutions to increase compliance and affordability for small contractors.

Michael Dunbar, President of Ryzhka International, testified on behalf of the Council in a June hearing on CMMC implementation and what it means for small businesses. He highlighted the need for cost transparency, streamlined standards and establishing clear communication on CMMC efforts, amongst others. In response to the hearing, the Small Business Committee Members introduced a bipartisan amendment that was included in the House-passed FY2022 House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that exempts contracts awarded to small businesses classified as tier 0 from category management or successor strategies for contract consolidation.

• Floor #337 – Requires DoD Report impact of CMMC on small businesses. Requires DoD to submit a report on the impact of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) on small businesses within 120 days. The report must include estimated cost burden for each CMMC level, anticipated decrease in number of small businesses as a result of CMMC and how the DoD plans to mitigate the negative effects to small businesses resulting from CMMC. [Reps Phillips (D-MN), Van Duyne (R-TX)] 

Our efforts in elevating the voice of defense industrial base resulted in changes in CMMC 2.0, specifically laid out by DoD to “reduce the burden for small businesses by: streamlining requirements at all levels, eliminating CMMC-unique practices and maturity processes; allowing companies associated with the new Level 1 (Foundational) and some Level 2 (Advanced) acquisition programs that do not involve information critical to national security to perform self-assessments rather than third-party assessments; and providing additional flexibility through the allowance of plan of actions and milestones (POA&Ms) and a waiver process.”

Thank you to all of our members and strategic partners that have added their voice to our efforts, and we look forward to continuing this important policy work through our new Secure Supply Chain Consortium.