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April 19, 2012 By AMK

Rep. Graves requests contract reforms in next NDAA

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the Small Business Committee, said on April 17 he would like several small-business contracting reforms, including a proposal to boost the annual small-business contracting goal, in the new defense authorization bill.

He made the recommendation to the Armed Services Committee in a hearing in which several House members asked the committee to include its suggested language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. The committee is expected to release its language for the bill May 7.

“Improving small business opportunities for federal contracts is a triple play,” Graves told the committee in testimony. Small companies win more contracts, which create jobs, he said. Companies also bring more competition and innovation to the market and the government saves money through this and the industrial base stays healthy, added Graves.

In March, Graves’ committee approved eight bills to reform contracting and help small companies in the federal marketplace.

He pointed out that the Armed Services Committee’s own Panel on Business Challenges and the Small Business Committee’s legislation actually complement each other.

The panel concluded that small businesses face particular challenges in contracting with the Defense Department. DOD lacks a culture that fosters small-business participation, it said. More broadly, DOD has a confusing acquisition rule book that constantly changes, the panel said.

As for small-business reforms, one bill would raise the governmentwide small-business contracting goal from 23 percent to 25 percent — with budgetary consequences for missing the mark. Others would increase the level of responsibility for small-business advocates inside each agency, improve mentor-protégé programs and tackle unjustified contract bundling.

Another bill would address a deceptive contracting practice called pass-throughs. In a pass-through, a small company wins a contract set aside just for certain companies and then passes the majority of the work onto a large company.

About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is a senior writer covering acquisition and procurement for Federal Computer Week. This article was published on Apr. 17, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/04/17/sam-graves-armed-services-committee.aspx?s=wtdaily_190412.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: competition, innovation, NDAA, pass-through, procurement reform, small business, small business goals

December 27, 2011 By AMK

Congress clarifies ‘critical function’ definition

The fiscal 2012 National Defense Authorization Act may provide a little more clarity to the blurry term “critical function.”

Such a function is a duty “necessary to maintain sufficient government expertise and technical capabilities” and a duty that “entails operational risk associated with contractor performance.”

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy this year defined a critical function as work that’s “necessary to the agency being able to effectively perform and maintain control of its mission and operations.”

In the authorization bill, Congress tells Defense Department officials to give special consideration to these critical functions, as well as acquisition workforce functions and even work that DOD employees have done at some during the past decade if they plan to take back work from contractors.

Officials would need to test whether to insource certain functions based on DOD guidance on comparing the estimated costs of who’s doing the work. Officials would also have to decide if insourcing a function would be either 10 percent or $10 million less expensive than the contractor’s cost. The choice would not apply to inherently governmental functions, which should only be done by federal employees.

The authorization bill cleared Congress Dec. 15, and now awaits President Barack Obama’s signature or his veto.

As defense officials consider insourcing work, Congress wants them to notify contractors of their decision to take back their work. DOD would have to give a “timely notification” to companies before insourcing particular jobs.

One expert said the “timely notification” is a step forward in informing the companies that would be losing their contracts. But the provision’s usefulness depends on what DOD considers timely.

“How ‘timely’ is defined determines whether this is of any value or not,” said Robert Burton, former deputy OFPP administrator and now partner at the Venable law firm.

Having worked with small contracting companies that lose their business because of insourcing, he said a useful timely notification may be at least a six-month heads-up.

Still he said small businesses often struggle to stay afloat after insourcing, whether or not they know they’re losing their work.

He had been pushing for such a provision, although he was disappointed Congress didn’t go further than a “timely notification.”

For the best option, he said government officials should talk with companies about the effect of insourcing on their future. Officials should then consider it as a factor in their decision.

About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is a senior writer covering acquisition and procurement for Federal Computer Week.  This article appeared on Dec. 21, 2011 at http://fcw.com/articles/2011/12/21/ndaa-critical-function-notification.aspx.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, budget, critical function, DoD, insourcing, NDAA, OFPP, outsourcing, small business

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