Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo: IRS Should Use Inflation Reduction Act to Better Serve Small Businesses
Published on
Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo: IRS Should Use Inflation Reduction Act to Better Serve Small Businesses

Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Department of the Treasury, met with officials from the Internal Revenue Service to discuss how the Inflation Reduction Act can be utilized to improve IRS customer service for small businesses.

The roundtable discussion is one of several meetings hosted by Adeyemo in order to gain insight on the legislation from different sectors, the department said Tuesday.

Enhancements in online, phone-based and in-person customer service could help small businesses file accurate tax returns and expedite processing of their documents, Adeyemo told nearly 20 stakeholders in the meeting. IRS upgrades will also enable small enterprises to access their credits and benefits on time, he added.

In general, IRS can take advantage of the IRA to reform its tax code, and prevent tax evasion by large corporations and wealthy Americans, Adeyemo stated.

Laurel Blatchford, the Treasury Department’s chief implementation officer for the Inflation Reduction Act, was also present during the event.

/
John Plumb: Pentagon Assesses Use of Special Access Program Classification
Published on
John Plumb: Pentagon Assesses Use of Special Access Program Classification

John Plumb, assistant secretary for space policy at the Department of Defense, said Kathleen Hicks, DOD’s deputy secretary and an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s 2023 Wash100, is overseeing a review of how the Pentagon uses Special Access Program classification for space programs and across the department, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

He said at an event Tuesday that the use of SAPs “has kind of spiraled out of control,” which he said is hampering information sharing with allies and across programs.

“Inside the department, the deputy secretary has directed kind of a SAP reform effort, and that is hopefully coming to some conclusion soon. I can’t say too much about any of that, obviously, but that’s across all domains,” Plumb said.

He stressed that his goal is to “bring down” data secrecy to a level that would enable the Pentagon “to maximize our ability to be ready to fight.”

/
Lael Brainard Resigns as Vice Chair of Federal Reserve Board
Published on
Lael Brainard Resigns as Vice Chair of Federal Reserve Board

Lael Brainard is stepping down as vice chair and member of the Federal Reserve Board on Feb. 20 to serve as director of the National Economic Council responsible for providing advice to the president on U.S. and global economic policy.

Brainard was appointed vice chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System in May 2022 and has served as a member of the board since June 2014, the central bank said Tuesday.

Previously, she was appointed chair of the Financial Stability Board Standing Committee on Assessment of Vulnerabilities and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Working Party 3 committee.

Brainard joined the Fed following her tenure at the Department of the Treasury as undersecretary and counselor to the secretary.

She also served as vice president and the founding director of the Global Economy and Development Program.

Federal Acquisition Regulation Amended to Accelerate Payments to Small Business Contractors
Published on
Federal Acquisition Regulation Amended to Accelerate Payments to Small Business Contractors

The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration amended the Federal Acquisition Regulation to accelerate government agencies’ payment deadline to small business contractors to 15 days.

In a notice published Tuesday on Federal Register, DOD, NASA and GSA said they finalized the rule in order to improve small businesses’ cash flow and federal market opportunities.

The rule, which takes effect on March 16, was originally proposed in September 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.

It requires agencies and prime contractors to pay primary and subcontracting small businesses within 15 days of receiving a proper invoice.

Under the new rule, prime contractors will not be allowed to renegotiate with subcontractors over the accelerated payments. The revision also excludes the conditional language “if a specific payment date is not established by contract.”

The amendment is applicable to government projects involving commercial services or commercially available off-the-shelf products.

Air Force, Eversource Kick Off Energy-as-a-Service Pilot at Hanscom AFB
Published on
Air Force, Eversource Kick Off Energy-as-a-Service Pilot at Hanscom AFB

The Department of the Air Force has selected local utility services provider Eversource to implement a commercial energy delivery and usage model at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

The Energy-as-a-Service pilot program will run for three years to provide installation mission owners access to resilient and efficient energy management services while supporting the Air Force’s decarbonization objectives, Air Force Materiel Command said Tuesday.

Eversource will partner with Ameresco and the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance to develop and implement an EaaS prototype to meet energy requirements at the military base.

The Air Force is using an existing other transaction agreement to procure solar arrays and battery energy storage systems in support of the program.

Penni Conner, executive vice president of customer experience and energy strategy at Eversource said the company is proud to provide an EaaS model that “leverages the best of today’s innovative technologies to provide resilient, sustainable energy service.”

“The unique structure of EaaS allows the base to focus on critical operations while ensuring their energy needs are met through resilient and renewable distributed energy infrastructure,” said Nicole Bulgarino, EVP of Ameresco.

/
BAE Systems, Leonardo Gain US Government Approval to Collaborate on Aircraft Survivability Suite; Chris Austin Quoted
Published on
BAE Systems, Leonardo Gain US Government Approval to Collaborate on Aircraft Survivability Suite; Chris Austin Quoted

BAE Systems and Leonardo UK have been approved by the U.S. government to develop an aircraft survivability suite.

Intended to improve aircraft survivability against advanced threats, the capability will contain BAE Systems’ AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems and Leonardo’s Miysis Directed Infrared Countermeasure system, BAE Systems announced from Nashua, New Hampshire on Wednesday.

“This layered defense against new and advanced threats will protect aircraft and their crews in the most complex battlespaces. Using interoperable, combat-proven systems is a smart, efficient, and cost-effective aircraft survivability solution for our international customers,” said Chris Austin, director of integrated survivability solutions for BAE Systems.

The AN/AAR-57 CMWS is currently being used in the rotary- and fixed-wing fleets of the U.S. Army and its partner nations to detect approaching hostile fire and missile threats, alert crews and automatically begin countermeasures.

Over 3,000 of these systems have been installed on more than 30 varieties of aircraft, accumulating above four million total combat flight hours for CMWS.

Leonardo-built Miysis DIRCM provides reliable, continuous protection from Infrared Man Portable Air Defense Systems by surprising a missile seeker head with an overwhelming stream of coded laser energy that is able to defeat multiple threats concurrently.

Existing CMWS operators will be able to cost-effectively add the DIRCM capability using the combined offering, which will enhance the effectiveness of CMWS flare decoying and increase aircraft survivability with the directed infrared countermeasure system.

“The AN/AAR-57 CMWS is in service on thousands of platforms worldwide, making it highly complementary to our readily exportable Miysis DIRCM,” said Tony Innes, vice president of sales radar and advanced targeting at Leonardo.

Since the AN/AAR-57 CMWS is already installed in thousands of platforms globally, Innes said, its current customers now have a “fast, simple and low risk way” to integrate DIRCM protection into their platforms.

/
Heidi Shyu Creates Task Force on Strategic Options Within Defense Science Board
Published on
Heidi Shyu Creates Task Force on Strategic Options Within Defense Science Board

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense and a 2023 Wash100 winner, has issued a memorandum announcing the establishment of a new task force within the Defense Science Board tasked with identifying operational and weapon system concepts as part of efforts to restore the U.S. armed forces’ operational dominance.

The task force on strategic options will operate as a subcommittee of DSB and will look at advanced undersea assets and operational concepts, new countermeasures for electronic warfare, new uses of space assets and cyber weapons employment, according to the memo publicly released Monday.

“Additional considerations should include the adversary’s use of countermeasures to undermine U.S. dominance in the air, space, sea and cyber domains,” the document reads.

The task force will conduct a study within 30 days of the initial appointment of members and will present its findings and recommendations to Shyu and to the board for deliberation.

Shyu said she will sponsor the task force, whose members will be given access to DOD officials and data for them to carry out their activities.

/
Lloyd Austin: US, Western Allies Working to Speed Up Delivery of Ammunition to Ukraine
Published on
Lloyd Austin: US, Western Allies Working to Speed Up Delivery of Ammunition to Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Western countries were working to address Ukraine’s “most pressing needs” amid the Eastern European country’s increasing consumption of artillery ammunition in its fight against Russian invasion, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

“We’re going to do everything we can working with our international partners to ensure that we give them as much ammunition as quickly as possible,” said Austin, a 2023 Wash100 awardee.

He noted that allies were collaborating with Ukrainian soldiers to advance tactical training to help ease the latter’s use of artillery fire.

U.S. and European officials said the U.S. military is considering bringing to Ukraine about 1.6 million rounds of small arms ammunition, more than 7,000 promixity fuses, antitank missiles and over 5,000 assault rifles that were seized by the U.S. Navy from smugglers suspected of supporting Iran-backed forces in Yemen, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

According to U.S. officials, the White House needs to find a legal justification to send the seized weapons to Ukraine as the United Nations arms embargo directs the U.S. and its allies to store, destroy or disposed of such weapons.

The Pentagon said the U.S. has sent to Ukraine over 100 million rounds of small arms ammo and approximately 13,000 guns, rifles and grenade launchers.

Al Whitmore & Christopher Scolese Named to 2023 Wash100
Published on
Al Whitmore & Christopher Scolese Named to 2023 Wash100

Two leaders at opposite ends of the public-private sector continuum were recognized for their Wash100 Award wins on Wednesday. Executive Mosaic publications singled out the achievements of BAE Systems President of the Intelligence and Security Sector Al Whitmore and National Reconnaissance Office Director Christopher Scolese in a pair of profiles celebrating their 2022 accomplishments.

The Wash100, now in its 10th year, is an annual compilation of the 100 most high-achieving and promising names in the Capitol region, working in government contracting and adjacent spaces. Winners are proven leaders and visionary innovators whose track record and potential positive impacts on the market in the coming year are seen as exemplary.

Vote for Al Whitmore and Christopher Scolese as your favorite Wash100 inductees at Wash100.com today! The popular vote contest is heating up and everyone gets 10 votes to make their voice heard.

Whitmore is a 40-year GovCon industry veteran and 2023 is his sixth consecutive win of GovCon’s highest accolade. He netted the award this year for leading BAE’s expansion efforts in military simulation training and federal information technology. In June, the company won a five-year, $699 million contract from the U.S. Army to conduct operations, maintenance and management services for the service branch’s Defense Supercomputing Resource Center. Additionally, he helped steer the company to win a $12 billion U.S. Air Force follow-on contract that same month.

Read Al Whitmore’s full profile at GovCon Wire here.

In his work as the 19th director of the NRO, Scolese has made inroads toward the global power struggle for dominance in the space domain, establishing new technologies and private sector partnerships and passing initiatives such as the May 2022 10-year, multibillion-dollar Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract. This was distributed to BlackSky, Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs.

The NRO director also launched its first national security payload into orbit in July 2022 under the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket program. Learn more about Scolese’s qualifications in his ExecutiveBiz profile here.

FCC Seeks Mobile Network Providers’ Help in Adding Languages to Emergency Alerts; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted
Published on
FCC Seeks Mobile Network Providers’ Help in Adding Languages to Emergency Alerts; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is seeking input from nine companies providing wireless emergency alerts on how the notifications can be sent in languages other than English and Spanish.

FCC said Monday that Rosenworcel sent letters to AT&T, Cellcom, C-Spire, DISH, Google Fi, Lively, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon as part of efforts to strengthen the use of WEAs in public safety.

WEA messaging was launched in 2012 to alert the public through their mobile devices about missing children, dangerous weather and other imminent threats.

FCC has been working in the past year to improve WEA, proposing rules for better operational readiness as well as requiring performance reports from wireless network providers. The agency also teamed up with state and local governments to study the geographic accuracy of the alerts.

“Today, Wireless Emergency Alerts supports messages only in English and Spanish. That means many non-English speakers in the United States continue to lack crucial information about imminent dangers and other emergencies,” Rosenworcel wrote. “I believe that language should not be a barrier to getting critical information that could save lives.”

She also sent a letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who raised the issue of WEA language accessibility.

1 … 621 622 623 624 625 … 2,620