Senate passes bill to increase competition in contracting

Unanimously passed legislation would limit length of noncompetitive contracts.

The Senate unanimously passed legislation Thursday aimed at increasing competition and accountability in federal contracting.

The Accountability in Government Contracting Act (S. 680), sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. and Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, would limit the length of certain sole-source contracts to 270 days. This restriction would apply to noncompeted contracts awarded under the "urgent and compelling need" justification.

The bill also creates a Contingency Contracting Corps of trained and experienced acquisition personnel to respond in emergencies, in an effort to reduce waste, fraud and abuse caused by poorly structured or managed emergency contracts.

The bill also mandates increased competition for task and delivery orders under multiple-award contracts. Agencies would be required to compete all such orders over $100,000, and provide more detailed statements of work and post-award debriefings for orders over $5 million.

Lieberman and Collins have said these provisions are necessary because while federal contracting dollars have almost doubled since 2000, the number of contracts awarded under full and open competition has dropped to below 50 percent.

"Government spending on contracts has exploded, while the trained workforce that oversees them has shrunk," Lieberman and Collins said in a joint statement.

The legislation aims to beef up the acquisition workforce by creating training and intern programs, requiring chief acquisition officers to develop human capital succession plans and creating a new assistant administrator for acquisition workforce programs in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

"By increasing the competencies and skills and numbers of our acquisition workforce, we will also ensure that the amount of waste and abuse will be reduced and the taxpayer's dollars better spent," Collins stated.

"This bill is a positive and serious effort to address the root causes of the government's challenges with acquisition," said Stan Soloway, president of the Arlington, Va.-based Professional Services Council, which represents contractors. "Workforce issues are at the heart of everything these days, and the chairman and ranking member recognize this, to their credit."

Soloway also lauded the legislation's focus on increased communication between government and contractors. The bill would require agencies to fix key contract terms such as price, scope or schedule within either 180 days or before a certain percentage of the work is done. It also would require agencies to publish notices explaining all sole-source task and delivery orders above a certain threshold.

While PSC has several minor concerns about the legislation -- including a provision that would allow protests of task orders over $5 million -- the association by and large supports the bill. Soloway said council members would like a higher threshold for protests to avoid unnecessary risk and cost, but said that even as passed, the legislation would not "significantly disrupt the system."

"Collins and Lieberman had a hearing [before introducing the bill] that was totally focused on making the system better. It wasn't a 'gotcha' hearing, and this is a very thoughtful piece of legislation," Soloway said.

Committee spokeswoman Jen Burita said discussions with the House about the legislation have begun but it is not clear yet if it will be discussed in conference committee along with a similar bill, the Accountability in Contracting Act (H.R. 1362), written by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.. That bill passed the House overwhelmingly in March.

Waxman's bill also aims to limit the length of sole-source contracts and would mandate a formal study of the acquisition workforce, but it focuses more on contract oversight than increasing competition.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.