Senator calls for freeze on new contracts

A temporary freeze on new government contracts is necessary to help agencies get a handle on their use of contractors, according to the chairman of the Senate Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., last week introduced S. 1152, a version of the union-backed Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting (TRAC) Act. The legislation would allow federal employees to compete for virtually all new government contracts.

With certain exceptions, the bill would also prohibit agencies from awarding any new contracts until they review recent contracts to ensure the government is getting a good deal from its contractors. Rep. Albert Wynn, D-Md., introduced a similar version of the bill in the House in February. "The bill introduced by Sen. Durbin will help to steer government back on its course of serving the people and away from profit-hungry businesses," said Bobby Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union. Harnage testified in favor of the TRAC Act last Thursday at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy. The Senate version of the TRAC legislation differs from Wynn's bill in a few key respects. Durbin would give agencies six months after the bill's enactment to start tracking contractor performance before the freeze on new contracting went into effect, while Wynn would impose the freeze upon enactment. The House bill also requires agencies to review all contracts awarded in the previous two years, while Durbin's version mandates that agencies only review contracts awarded during the past year. The Bush administration declared its opposition to the TRAC legislation last week, claiming the bill would effectively shut down government contracting without adding to efficiency or accountability. The legislation is also opposed by the Coalition on Outsourcing and Privatization, an umbrella group of businesses that unveiled a Web site criticizing the bill last week.