Congress Adopts Favorable A-76 Rules

Last year, a last-minute veto threat by the Bush administration blocked key provisions in the 2005 omnibus spending bill that would have made the outsourcing of federal jobs more difficult.  This year things worked out better.  The same provisions that were stripped last year were included in the 2006 Transportation-Treasury-Housing Appropriations bill, which applies to all federal agencies except the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).  The conference report was adopted by both houses of Congress on November 18^th.  The measure was signed into law by the President on November 30^th.

One major improvement to the A-76 process is the ability of the in-house agency to form a “most efficient organization” when competing against contractors for work performed by 10 or more federal employees.  Having this ability will allow federal employees to submit more competitive bids, and therefore, will likely help federal employees prevail more often in public/private competitions.

In addition to allowing federal employees the ability to put forward their best bid, the provisions also require contractors to demonstrate a savings of at least 10% or $10 million.  This savings would be necessary to offset the cost the government incurs in administering the contract.  This would also prevent contractors from winning bids based on factors unrelated to cost.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who has been a primary advocate of the revised outsourcing rules, called the 10 percent or $10 million provision “the first step in leveling the playing field for federal employees.”

“We have been fighting for these provisions for years,” said NFFE National President/DBR Richard N. Brown.  “The administration was hell-bent on making sure contractors have every possible advantage in competition studies.  It seems that Congress has finally woken up and realized that giving contractors an unfair advantage is not in the best interest of the American taxpayer.”