The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has published an interim final rule, effective February 21, 2017, which requires the VA to "verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB), including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB)" every three years, in order for those firms to participate in set-aside contracts with the VA.
This follows a rule from the VA in 2012, which set the verification period at every two years.
The VA has stated that the depth of review it mandates - which encompasses, among other things, review of tax returns, meeting records, payroll records, stock ledgers, and the like - makes the three-year verification period adequate for establishing eligibility, and that more frequent reviews constitute an administrative burden on both the VA and the VOSBs and SDVOSBs it works with.
The VA has further stated, as evidence for the safety and efficacy of this new rule, that out of 1,109 reverification applications for fiscal year 2016, only 10 were denied.
Further rationales for the integrity of the three-year verification period have been adduced by the VA, such as the right to conduct random site verifications, and consistency with similar procedures under the US Small Business Administration.
Comments on the rule sent to the VA must be received on or before April 24, 2017, in a manner described at length in the Federal Register notice on the rule at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/02/21/2017-03331/va-veteran-owned-small-business-verification-guidelines.
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