Stimulus Bill Good For Lawyers

One of the original proposals in the "Recovery" or "Stimulus" bill passed ultimately by the Democratic Congress and President Obama was a requirement that only U.S. products could be used. Once it was pointed out the rule would not only be a bad idea but probably violate various treaties related to international trade it was rewritten. The version passed does not allow the use of "stimulus funds for construction, repair or maintenance of a public building or public work unless all of the project's iron, steel and manufactured goods used are made in the United States." Law.com points out that "public building" and "public work" are not fully defined in the law. There is an out for some of our trading partners as the law states that U.S. trade agreements cannot be violated meaning a waiver for goods and services from those countries in NAFTA or the WTO Government Procurement Agreement. All this means that any business getting a contract paid for with stimulus funds must be able to certify that it is following the law and meeting the American goods and material requirements. This means that various legal interpretations and documents will have to be prepared in support of contract proposals, awards and execution. There is also the possibility that losing companies will protest awards based on these provisions. A concern is that with the current economic situation and the size of the stimulus package many companies who have not bid on Federal work will be doing so. They do not possess the necessary personnel or expertise to deal with complex provisions like this one. These kind of issues may delay how quickly and effectively the stimulus funds are used to spur the economy at least in a way that Congress intended.