General Services Administration officials are considering holding another competition for a contract related to Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 , a Bush-era mandate to improve security and reduce identity fraud, according to a new report.
The contract for HSPD-12 services should be recompeted because it didn’t fully comply with acquisition policy, GSA’s inspector general wrote in a report issued Sept. 13.
HSPD-12 establishes a mandatory, governmentwide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification for federal employees and contractors. GSA is the lead agency on the program.
Under the current structure of the HSPD-12 contract, GSA’s managed service office violated the agency’s policy by exceeding the contract’s ceiling, the report stated.
With a recompete, officials are considering options that include having customers buying and being billed directly. It would relieve the office in charge of HSPD-12 of managing funds, the report said.
Due to the problems, Steve Kempf, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service commissioner, agreed with the IG’s recommendation.
In addition, HSPD-12’s business model and related interagency agreement violate a rule that allows an agency to spend a current year’s appropriations based on when it signs a contract. GSA officials told the IG they were working out an agreement to solve the problems.
The managed service office also violated governmentwide procurement policies because some office employees without contracting authority placed multiple customer agency orders, the IG said.
In their review, auditors could not find pricing information on 45 percent of more than 500 orders because the orders did not have a ceiling limit. GSA officials said they had revised the orders and have changed ordering policies, the report stated.
— by Matthew Weigelt – Sept. 17, 2010 – Federal Computer Week
