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Rep. Deborah Pryce, John Mashburn, Holly Svetz Take Part in Stimulus Contracting Teleconference

August 4, 2009

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Womble Carlyle attorneys Rep. Deborah Pryce and John Mashburn participated in a recent panel and teleconference on Oversight Challenges in Economic Stimulus Contracting at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Womble Carlyle attorney Holly Svetz co-chaired the Section on Public Contract Law and organized the section panels for the ABA's 2009 Annual Meeting.

 

Pryce served as the moderator for the program, while Mashburn was a speaker and panel member. Other participants included former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson and Daniel Gordon, the Acting General Counsel of the Government Accountability Office. The August 3rd teleconference was presented by the American Bar Association's Center for Continuing Legal Education.

A number of potentially onerous restrictions are connected with federal economic stimulus funds, including enhanced "whistle-blower" protections, Davis-Bacon wage and hour requirements, "Buy America" requirements for certain goods, and prohibitions against spending money on such projects as swimming pools, golf courses, aquariums and zoos. Questions addressed in the 90-minute teleconference included:

  • What were the legislation's policy goals and does the Stimulus Act support them?
  • Through the Act's mechanisms, which governmental entities at what level of government are spending the Stimulus funds?
  • What progress has been made toward fulfilling the Act's ambitious disbursement schedule?
  • What are the traps that private parties receiving Stimulus funds should know about and how can they be navigated?
  • What kind of oversight did the Act anticipate and what is happening in actual practice?
  • Are all the Stimulus bill funding opportunities gone?
  • What's left?

Rep. Deborah Pryce represented Ohio's 15th District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 16 years. She now is a member of Womble Carlyle's Government Affairs team in the Washington, D.C. office.

John Mashburn's practice is focused on the representation of corporations, associations, and state and local government entities before Congress, the administration, and federal agencies. He has nearly 20 years of high-level experience on Capitol Hill.

Holly Svetz handles a wide range of matters involving agreements with the government, including government grant and contract compliance, bid protests and claims litigation, and advice related to government contracting and joint ventures.

A recorded audio CD of this seminar, “Oversight Challenges in Economic Stimulus Contracting,” is available for purchase by the ABA and is approved for 1.5 hours of MCLE credit. Click here for more information.