Legal Meets Practical

A project dubbed the “biggest construction failure” in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) – already $1 billion over budget and more than a year behind schedule — is getting another $100 million taxpayer bailout.

After a Republican-led cash infusion approved by President Obama this week, construction will continue on a new veterans medical center near Denver that is expected to serve 400,000 former military service members and their families. Ahead of Memorial Day, contractors had prepared to stop work on the project as approved funding dried up after repeated overruns and delays.

The $100 million fix is only a stop-gap measure: it funds just three more weeks of work.

The costs to taxpayers for the project have already ballooned from an initial $328 million price tag in 2005 to $1.73 billion (a 427% increase), with years more construction to go, according to an April Government Accountability Office Report (the “Report”).

Also, the VA does not even have an estimate for when construction will be complete. It used to be February 2014, and now it is “unknown.” Reasons documented for the cost overruns and delays include a change in project scope (decisions to change plans from a shared university/VA medical center to a standalone VA medical center); and unanticipated events such as a need to eradicate asbestos and replace faulty electrical systems.

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has called the agency’s entire construction program “a disaster” and the Denver project its “biggest construction failure.”

Congress had imposed an $880 million spending cap on the program, but the agency has repeatedly lobbied lawmakers to lift the cap and provide more funds.

Because after all, what happens if the money stops pouring in? No one wants to walk away from such an important project…especially since hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are already invested.

For more information about the Denver overruns (and others), access the Report here.

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on timely veterans issues at legalmeetspractical.com. Remember to click the link sent to your email to activate your subscription!

In a 35-page memorandum addressed to VA Secretary, Robert McDonald, the VA’s senior official for procurement, Jan Frye, accuses other agency leaders of “gross mismanagement” and making a “mockery” of federal acquisition laws that require competitive bidding and proper contracts.

The result: the wasting of at least $6 billion a year in the federal contract arena. Note that this is $6 billion a year, not $6 billion, period.

“Doors are swung wide open for fraud, waste and abuse,” Frye writes in the March memo, which was obtained by D.C.’s The Washington Post. He adds, “I can state without reservation that VA has and continues to waste millions of dollars by paying excessive prices for goods and services due to breaches of Federal laws.”

In the memorandum, Frye describes in detail a series of practices that he says run afoul of federal rules, including the widespread use of government purchase cards, which are usually meant as a convenience for minor purchases of up to $3,000, to buy billions of dollars worth of medical supplies without contracts. In one example, he says that up to $1.2 billion in prosthetics were bought using purchase cards without contracts during an 18-month period that ended in 2014.

Frye also explains how VA has failed to engage in competitive bidding or sign contracts with outside hospital and health-care providers that offer medical care for veterans that the agency cannot provide, such as specialized tests and surgeries and other procedures. Frye says the VA has paid at least $5 billion in such fees, in violation of federal rules that the agency’s own general counsel has said since 2009 must be followed.

Frye alleges further violations in the agency’s purchase of billions of dollars worth of prosthetics and in the acquisition of a wide range of daily medical and surgical supplies. He says many products are bought without the competitive bidding and contracts essential to ensure quality care, effective use of tight dollars and proper government oversight.

After the memorandum was leaked to the press (which raises an interesting question – who leaked it?), members of the House Veterans’ Committee held a two-hour hearing to address the issues it raised. This is the first of three hearings scheduled for the Spring, during which the Committee Chair, Mr. Jeff Miller, remarked, “To let this continue and not be furious about it defies anybody’s rational thinking.”

Following the hearing, Secretary McDonald issued a response to the memorandum. Frye says this is the first time the VA has responded to the memorandum, which means that the VA did not acknowledge it until public release and public shaming.

Secretary McDonald said he has asked the inspector general’s office to review the letter. “Any findings of wrongdoing or evidence of harm to Veterans” will be referred to the Justice Department, he wrote.

Which, of course, means that some VA folk will be “redistributed.” After an investigation. And a memorandum with “recommendation.”

Good to know the situation’s being handled.

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on veterans issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com.

If you are a veteran-owned small business doing business with the federal government, you should consider attending the National Veteran Small Business Coalition’s (NVSBC) conference in Norfolk, Virginia this year from June 8th through June 11th. The NVSBC is a veteran-run, D.C. based organization with a mission of transitioning veterans into business owners servicing the federal government.

Every year, the NVSBC hosts its conference, VETS 15, towards the ends of: connecting business owners with procurement officials and prospective teaming partners, educating contractors on important procurement topics, and providing the opportunity to network. It is the largest annual conference hosted by veterans, for veterans.

While the conference is traditionally in Reno, Nevada, it moved to Norfolk this year in order to attract more federal agencies, large contractors, and speakers. It appears this goal has been met given its exhibitors posted, to include BAE, General Dynamics, the NASA Office of Small Business Programs, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon. The announced keynote speakers are Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Thomas Kolditz, a retired Brigadier General who is a professor in the Practice of Leadership and Management and Director of the Leadership Development Program at the Yale School of Management.

In addition – and importantly- the conference offers a range of learning sessions taught by industry professionals and experts. The agenda includes sessions on VetBiz verification, financing options for veteran-owned small businesses, how to manage a federal contract effectively and profitably, how to write a technical proposal, and updates on the small business proposed rules. As noted by NVSBC President, Scott Denniston, “We are expecting a much larger crowd and have specifically tailored the workshops to be of interest to novice businesses in the federal space as well as the mature veteran-owned small businesses.”

If you are a non-member of the NVSBC, the registration rate is currently $399. Also, know that Norfolk Waterside Marriott, which is where the conference is held, gave NVSBC a group rate of $87 per room that is good only through May 18. You can access more information about registration and the hotel on the conference’s website.

I will be at this conference, presenting on the VA’s VetBiz verification process on Tuesday, June 9th with former Civilian Board of Contract Appeals Judge, Mr. Bill Thomas. We will also be distributing my VetBiz handbook, which gives the nitty gritty on how to get through the verification process. I hope to see you there!

*Access the full conference website at: http://www.veterantrainingsymposium.com. Also, if you are interested in joining the NVSBC, or are a member who wants to see what the NVSBC has planned for the upcoming year, attend the Board meeting that will be held on Monday, June 8th, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

The Center for Verification’s (CVE) help desk line is going to be blowing up today.

The long and the short of it – some kind of technical error happened with the VetBiz registry, which is the database used to house and list all of the information of 7,157 veteran-owned businesses. If you are in that database, and you have received a message that looks like this, ignore it.

Basically, this message says that your business has expired and has been removed from the VetBiz database, which means that you are not eligible to compete for contracts issued by the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs as a veteran-owned small business (VOSB) or service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDOVSB) set-aside.

If you have gone through the verification process and suddenly think your verification status has been taken away from you, this is, of course, a very big, very bad deal. But please don’t panic! It appears that this message has been sent to everyone in the database (or if not everyone, at least a large percentage); when I checked my email and voicemail this morning, I had a number of messages from panicked veterans.

In sum, don’t call the CVE, don’t do anything – this is a terrible error, but nothing has actually happened to your business’ status. If you should be verified, you are still verified, I assure you!

As a last note, it appears that a few different problems have been at play ever since a system upgrade went into effect in late April. I have seen a few truly strange things happen with applications since that time; and I know of one business that received a notice to change their password…but the link provided was broken. Accordingly, now they cannot access their account to make any necessary changes.

“Someone needs to be held accountable,” that veteran business owner said to me. “This isn’t a system problem, it’s a person problem. It shouldn’t be my job to stay on hold with the help desk for an hour.”

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on veteran business issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com.

Late April marked the third time in the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s 69-year history that it voted to issue a subpoena to mandate release of information.

In a scathing audit released in early April, the VA Inspector General confirmed a litany of problems first raised by whistleblowers at the Philadelphia Regional Office (RO), involving such claims such as manipulation of dates to make old claims look new. Many of these whistleblowers were VA employees who alleged they had been subject to retaliation for attempting to report these issues.

To further investigation into this issue, the subpoena will demand that the VA provide its personnel and complaint files at the Philadelphia office. According to Jeff Miller, who has chaired the Committee since 2011, this information has been repeatedly asked for during the last few months with little success.

“There are serious issues plaguing the Philadelphia RO,” he said. “We can no longer let the VA stonewall [on providing the information].” Miller added that documents the Committee has received have been so heavily redacted that they provide little or no information.

“There is a growing list of examples of the VA attempting to impede our congressional oversight and limit their transparency,” said Miller, who is now seeking records going back to December 2008.

After the vote to subpoena the records, VA Secretary Bob McDonald quickly responded with a letter to Miller, pointing out that the department has already provided “nearly 9,000 pages of material … with more to follow.” The letter also noted that the VA had offered to make available the full, un-redacted information sought by the Committee, noting that this had not been done due to Committee staff members’ failure to agree to “certain reasonable privacy conditions.” Secretary McDonald concluded by reiterating the VA’s commitment to providing the files.

While we can’t know what types of records were provided by the VA and the substance of the redacted (private) information, I note that this is only the third subpoena issued in the Committee’s history – surely this isn’t something that is taken lightly.

But still, despite the Committee members’ cognizance of a subpoena as a “last resort” type of measure, consider the political and emotional climate here – our veterans are suffering, and given the litany of recent scandals, the Committee is willing to use more forceful measures.

Then there’s the point that a subpoena is something the Committee actually can do. Allison Hickey, the VA’s undersecretary for benefits, said the top manager and employee who altered the quality reviews have been reassigned pending an internal review. That’s right – reassigned, not fired. (The VA can’t do anything about this – government employees have ironclad property rights in their jobs, so it’s incredibly hard to fire one. We learned that last year).

A subpoena, however, forces the VA to respond. Not only that, but this action is public, and drastic, and if you Google this issue you’ll find a number of military organizations and publications reporting on the matter. And guess whose side they’re on?

My guess is the Committee has a bunch of records coming its way.

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s legal blog on veterans issues at legalmeetspractical.com. Remember to click the link sent to your email to activate your subscription!

*As I know this information does not impact every veteran following my blog, later this week I will also blog on a veteran topic similar to the scathing Philadelphia Regional Office audit or the Elf on the Shelf scandal. Stay tuned!

For those veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) that are either verified with the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE), or going through the verification process, please note that as of April 27, 2015, some substantive changes to the VetBiz registry may affect you. The following is the “quick and dirty” summary of the changes, in case you don’t have time to watch the video recording the CVE sent to you:

• The Landing Page – The VetBiz landing page has been revamped to include additional information, including links to additional resources and pertinent contact information. Also note that it provides a new email for those seeking a status update on their Vetbiz application: [email protected].
• Login Changes – When you log in after April 27th, you will be required to choose and answer three security questions, as well as choose a new password (with specific new parameters to prevent you from choosing a password that could be easily hacked). You will also now be required to change your password every 90 days (which in my opinion is a bit of a headache, but it only takes a minute or two). This requirement reflects a VA-wide change that also includes the VA’s internal email system.
• Public Listing – The “last modified” field of your posted listing will now be changed to the last date your business was verified, and the date it will expire. Also, the owner’s (veteran’s) information will be removed from the public search.
• 0877 Changes – You will now be prevented from moving forward from the 0877 form if the veteran’s ownership listing is not 51% or more, as this is a basic eligibility criterion.
• Additional Business Designations – On your profile, you are now allowed to select additional socioeconomic categories (such as HUBZone, WOSB, or 8a). This is a “self-certification” only; by allowing this listing, the CVE is not confirming that a business meets the applicable criteria.
• Document Uploads– When uploading documents to the VetBiz profile, “upload successful” will appear in green to confirm that a document was successfully uploaded.
• Withdrawing a Firm – This is a great change – finally! Now, when a business receives a Pre-Decision letter, it can withdraw itself by clicking on the “withdraw” button on its account. Previously, a business had to click this button and then call the CVE help desk to complete the process. This eliminates that extra step, and a confirmation email will let a business owner know that a withdrawal is complete.
• Session Timeout – Now, once a veteran logs into his VetBiz portal, an automatic logout will occur in 60 minutes, not 15. (Lengthening the time for automatic logout for security purposes does, however, seem to conflict with the requirement that one must change his password every 90 days as a means to protecting information).

While none of these changes are earth-shattering, it’s important to be aware of them if you’re listed in the VetBiz registry. And it’s important to know they reflect an effort to make the verification process less painful. Now, if the CVE tech team could fix the glitch that’s made it impossible to view documents uploaded in response to a Document Request, we’d be in business!

*Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for Sarah Schauerte’s blog covering veteran business issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com. Remember to click the link sent to your email to activate your subscription!