The 2020 NDAA draft spells out new, contractor-friendly provisions that will make it easier for government contractors and suppliers to ensure the purity of their supply chain from the bottom up and also extends a favorable small-business provision. Eric Crusius, partner at Holland and Knight, says that the growing “mega-trends” of supply chain awareness and cyber security awareness will make it easier for small businesses and contractors to sell to the federal government.
“It is a contractor-friendly provision that we are seeing – [The Section 809 Panel] is seeing nuggets about that, and some of it is controversial”, Crusius explains. “But I didn’t see anything in the House or Senate version that protests it. That’s what they tackled. There was a study that was requested on the protest that isn’t out yet…This is like Christmas for all of us, when you open the box and you’re surprised at the end.”