Requires each agency to establish a centralized system for reporting on its contracting efforts during the preceding and current fiscal years.
Requires any agency decision to privatize, outsource, or contract out for the performance of a function, after expiration of the prohibition enacted by this Act, to be based on the results of a public-private competition process meeting specified requirements.
Requires an agency either to conduct a new public-private competition or to convert a function to performance by Federal employees if a report indicates that: (1) contracting out costs exceed costs of performance by Federal employees; or (2) contracting out fails to meet quality control standards.
Directs the Secretary of Labor to survey and report to specified congressional committees on the wages and quantifiable benefits provided by contractors to non-Federal personnel working under contract.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 721 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 721
To ensure that the business of the Federal Government is conducted in
the public interest and in a manner that provides for public
accountability, efficient delivery of services, reasonable cost
savings, and prevention of unwarranted Government expenses, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2001
Mr. Wynn (for himself, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Langevin, Ms. Eddie
Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr.
Delahunt, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Frost, Mr. Wexler, Mr. George Miller of
California, Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. Watt of North Carolina, Mr. Holden,
Mr. Bonior, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Mr. Sisisky, Mr.
Sanders, Mr. Engel, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Payne, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Filner, Mr.
Cummings, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr.
Murtha, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Dicks, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr.
Oberstar, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Spratt, Mr. Kleczka, Mrs. Morella, Mr.
Hinchey, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Frank, Mr. Moore, Mr.
Waxman, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii,
Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Allen, Mrs. Thurman, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Price of North
Carolina, Mr. Ford, Mr. Stark, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kucinich, Mr.
Strickland, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms.
Brown of Florida, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. Baca, Mr. Hall of Ohio,
Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Green of Texas, and Mr.
Rahall) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that the business of the Federal Government is conducted in
the public interest and in a manner that provides for public
accountability, efficient delivery of services, reasonable cost
savings, and prevention of unwarranted Government expenses, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Truthfulness,
Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Temporary suspension of new contracting out, privatization,
outsourcing, contracting, and other such
initiatives; waiver authority.
Sec. 5. Agency reporting systems and required reports.
Sec. 6. Requirement for public-private competition.
Sec. 7. Review of contractor performance.
Sec. 8. Survey of wages and benefits provided by contractors.
Sec. 9. Comptroller General reports.
Sec. 10. Applicability.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) There has been a major increase in service contracting
(relying on private contractors to provide services to the
Federal Government) since 1993.
(2) Federal agencies have been increasing reliance on
service contracting even though there are no reliable and
comprehensive reporting systems in place to determine whether
service contracting has achieved measurable cost savings or
improved Government services for taxpayers.
(3) Federal agencies have contracted out work that either
is being performed or could be performed by Federal employees
without any public-private competition.
(4) Federal employees are being replaced by contractor
employees without even knowing with certainty if the result is
reduced costs or improved services.
(5) Federal agencies do not have systems in place to
provide for work currently performed by Federal contractors to
be performed by Federal employees, even after a determination
that in-house performance would be more efficient and more cost
effective.
(6) Arbitrary personnel ceilings, used to reduce the size
of the Federal workforce, are--
(A) forcing agencies to lay off Federal employees
who could perform at least some of this work
effectively and at a savings to the taxpayer;
(B) preventing agencies from hiring new Federal
employees who could perform this work effectively and
at a savings to taxpayers; and
(C) forcing agencies to give work to private
contractors without any public-private competition,
often at higher costs.
(7) Public-private competition must be used equitably in
order to be fair to both taxpayers and Federal employees.
(8) It would be in the best interests of taxpayers if
Federal contractors faced the same level of public-private
competition as that experienced by Federal employees,
especially when it has been reliably determined that the
Federal contractor workforce is almost twice as large as the
Federal employee workforce.
(9) In order to satisfactorily address these serious
problems, Federal service contracting should be temporarily
suspended.
(10) This suspension should affect only new contracts, and
include a waiver to allow agencies to enter into new contracts
in certain circumstances in order to preclude any serious
Federal Government disruption.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) improve the ability of the Federal Government to carry
out its mission and perform its business in the public interest
in a cost-effective manner; and
(2) temporarily suspend new Federal service contracting
until agencies have--
(A) established comprehensive and reliable
reporting systems to track the costs of service
contracting;
(B) prevented work from being given to contractors
without public-private competitions; and
(C) subjected work performed by Federal contractors
to the same level of public-private competition as that
experienced by Federal employees.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ``employee'' means any individual employed--
(A) as a civilian in a military department (as
defined in section 102 of title 5, United States Code);
(B) in an executive agency (as defined in section
105 of title 5, United States Code), including an
employee who is paid from nonappropriated funds;
(C) in those units of the legislative and judicial
branches of the Federal Government having positions in
the competitive service;
(D) in the Library of Congress;
(E) in the Government Printing Office; or
(F) by the Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
(2) The term ``agency'' means any department, agency,
bureau, commission, activity, or organization of the United
States, that employs an employee (as defined in paragraph (1)).
(3) The term ``non-Federal personnel'' means employed
individuals who are not employees, as defined in paragraph (1).
(4) The term ``contractor'' means an individual or entity
that performs a function for an agency under a contract with
non-Federal personnel.
(5) The term ``privatization'' means the end result of the
decision of an agency to exit a business line, terminate an
activity, or sell Government owned assets or operational
capabilities to the non-Federal sector.
(6) The term ``outsourcing'' means the end result of the
decision of an agency to acquire services from external
sources, either from a non-Federal source or through
interservice support agreements, through a contract.
(7) The term ``contracting out'' means the conversion by an
agency of the performance of a function to the performance by a
non-Federal employee under a contract between an agency and an
individual or other entity.
(8) The term ``contracting in'' is the conversion of the
performance of a function by non-Federal employees under a
contract between an agency and an individual or other entity to
the performance by employees.
(9) The term ``contracting'' means the performance of a
function by non-Federal employees under a contract between an
agency and an individual or other entity. The term
``contracting'', as used throughout this Act, includes
privatization, outsourcing, contracting out, and contracting,
unless otherwise specifically provided.
(10)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ``critical
for the provision of patient care'' means direct patient
medical and hospital care that the Department of Veterans
Affairs or other Federal hospitals or clinics are not capable
of furnishing because of geographical inaccessibility, medical
emergency, or the particularly unique type of care or service
required.
(B) The term does not include support and administrative
services for hospital and clinic operations, including food
service, laundry services, grounds maintenance, transportation
services, office operations, and supply processing and
distribution services.
SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF NEW CONTRACTING OUT, PRIVATIZATION,
OUTSOURCING, CONTRACTING, AND OTHER SUCH INITIATIVES;
WAIVER AUTHORITY.
(a) Suspension.--(1) Beginning on the date of the enactment of this
Act, no agency shall make a decision, with respect to any function
performed by the agency, to privatize, outsource, contract out, or
contract for the performance of such function, or to conduct a study to
convert the performance of the function to the performance by a
contractor. This subsection does not apply to work performed by the
private sector prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
(2)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an agency may undertake a
contracting effort of a function not then performed by Federal
employees if the function would be performed under contract by the
blind or handicapped (or both).
(B) Any contract entered into pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be
immediately terminated if it is determined that the performance of the
function is not being carried out by the blind or handicapped.
(C) In this paragraph:
(i) The term ``blind'' has the meaning that term has in
section 5(1) of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 48b(1)).
(ii) The term ``handicapped'' means an individual or class
of individuals with a disability, as that term is defined in
section 7(9) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
705(9)).
(b) Waiver.--(1) Any agency may submit to the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget a request for a waiver of this section
with regard to a particular function. Such a waiver request shall--
(A) identify the facilities, units, or activities affected;
(B) specify the reason a waiver is needed;
(C) identify the duration sought; and
(D) explain the justification for the waiver.
(2) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may grant a
waiver with regard to a particular function if the Director determines
that a waiver--
(A) is necessary for the preservation of national security;
(B) is critical for the provision of patient care; or
(C) is necessary to prevent extraordinary economic harm.
(3) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may not
grant a waiver under this section until the Director publishes the
request of the agency for a waiver in the Federal Register.
(c) Exceptions.--(1) Subsection (b) shall not apply with regard to
a function performed by employees within a unit with respect to which a
labor organization is accorded exclusive recognition under chapter 71
of title 5, United States Code--
(A) if the waiver would violate a collective bargaining
agreement (as defined in section 7103(a)(8) of title 5, United
States Code) between the agency and the labor organization,
unless there is another written waiver between the agency and
the labor organization; or
(B) if the waiver is not covered by such a collective
bargaining agreement, until there has been consultation or
negotiation, as appropriate, by the agency with the labor
organization.
(2) Subsection (b) shall not apply with regard to a function
performed by employees within any unit with respect to which a labor
organization has not been accorded exclusive recognition under chapter
71, title 5, United States Code, unless the agency has consulted with
the employees in the unit regarding the waiver.
SEC. 5. AGENCY REPORTING SYSTEMS AND REQUIRED REPORTS.
(a) Centralized Reporting System.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, each agency shall establish a
centralized reporting system in accordance with guidance promulgated by
the Office of Management and Budget that allows the agency to generate
periodic reports on the contracting efforts of the agency. Such
centralized reporting system shall be designed to enable the agency to
generate reports on efforts regarding both contracting out and
contracting in.
(b) Reports on Contracting Efforts.--(1) Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, every agency shall
generate and submit to the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget a report on the contracting efforts of the agency undertaken
during the 2 fiscal years immediately preceding the fiscal year during
which this Act is enacted. Such report shall comply with the
requirements in paragraph (3).
(2) For the current fiscal year and every fiscal year thereafter,
every agency shall complete and submit to the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget a report on the contracting efforts undertaken by
the agency during the current fiscal year. Such reports shall comply
with the requirements in paragraph (3), and shall be completed and
submitted not later than the end of the first fiscal quarter of the
subsequent fiscal year.
(3) The reports referred to in this subsection shall include the
following information with regard to each contracting effort undertaken
by the agency:
(A) The contract number and the Federal supply class or
service code.
(B) A statement of why the contracting effort was
undertaken and an explanation of what alternatives to the
contracting effort were considered and why such alternatives
were ultimately rejected.
(C) The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the
officials who supervised the contracting effort.
(D) The competitive process used or the statutory or
regulatory authority relied on to enter into the contract
without public-private competition.
(E) The cost of Federal employee performance at the time
the work was contracted out (if the work had previously been
performed by Federal employees).
(F) The cost of Federal employee performance under a Most
Efficient Organization plan (if the work was contracted out
through OMB Circular A-76).
(G) The anticipated cost of contractor performance, based
on the award.
(H) The current cost of contractor performance.
(I) The actual savings, expressed both as a dollar amount
and as a percentage of the cost of performance by Federal
employees, based on the current cost, and an explanation of the
difference, if any.
(J) A description of the quality control process used by
the agency in connection with monitoring the contracting
effort, identification of the applicable quality control
standards, the frequency of the preparation of quality control
reports, and an assessment of whether the contractor met,
exceeded, or failed to achieve the quality control standards.
(K) The number of employees performing the contracting
effort under the contract and any related subcontracts.
(c) Report on Contracting Efforts.--(1) For the current fiscal year
and every fiscal year thereafter, every agency shall complete and
submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report
on the contracting efforts undertaken by the agency during the current
fiscal year. Such reports shall comply with the requirements in
paragraph (2), and shall be completed and submitted not later than the
end of the first fiscal quarter of the subsequent fiscal year.
(2) The reports referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the
following information for each contracting in effort undertaken by the
agency:
(A) A description of the type of work involved.
(B) A statement of why the contracting in effort was
undertaken.
(C) The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the
officials who supervised the contracting in effort.
(D) The cost of performance at the time the work was
contracted in.
(E) The current cost of performance by Federal employees or
military personnel.
(d) Report on Employee Positions.--Not later than 30 days after the
end of the current fiscal year and every fiscal year thereafter, every
agency shall report on the number of Federal employee positions and
positions held by non-Federal employees under a contract between the
agency and an individual or entity that has been subject to public-
private competition.
(e) Committees to Which Reports Must Be Submitted.--The reports
referred to in this section shall be submitted to the Committee on
Government Reform of the House of Representatives and to the Committee
on Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(f) Publication.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall promptly publish in the Federal Register notices including
a description of when the reports referred to in this section are
available to the public and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers
of the officials from whom the reports may be obtained.
(g) Availability on Internet.--After the excision of proprietary
information, the reports referred to in this section shall be made
available through the Internet.
(h) Review.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall review the reports referred to in this section and consult with
the head of the agency regarding the content of such reports.
SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE COMPETITION.
(a) In General.--After the date of the enactment of this Act and
the expiration of the suspension authority in section 4 of this Act,
any decision by an agency to privatize, outsource, contract or contract
out, including the exercise of options, extensions, and renewals of any
contracting efforts, for the performance of a function shall be based
on the results of a public-private competition process that--
(1) formally compares the costs of Federal employee
performance of the function with the costs of the performance
by a contractor;
(2) employs the most efficient organization process
described in OMB Circular A-76; and
(3) is conducted in consultation or through bargaining with
the exclusive representative of the Federal employees
performing the function, if applicable. This subsection does
not apply to work performed by the private sector prior to the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Determination of Costs.--(1) An agency shall commence or
continue the performance of a function by Federal employees if, under a
cost comparison performed pursuant to a public-private competition
process described in subsection (a), the agency determines that at
least a 10-percent cost savings would not be achieved by performance of
the function by a contractor.
(2) During the temporary suspension established in section 4 of
this Act, an agency may undertake a contracting effort made pursuant to
the issuance of a waiver granted under section 4 for a function that is
not currently performed by Federal employees if the agency has
determined the total cost to the agency of performing the function by a
contractor and the total cost to the agency of having those services
performed by Federal employees and that the contractor performance
costs are less than the Federal employee performance costs.
(c) Inapplicability of Certain Limitation.--Notwithstanding any
limitation on the number of Federal employees established by law,
regulation, or policy, an agency may continue to employ, or may hire,
such Federal employees as are necessary to perform work acquired
through public-private competition required by this section.
SEC. 7. REVIEW OF CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE.
(a) In General.--If a report completed pursuant to section 5
indicates that, for 2 consecutive years, the actual cost of
privatization, outsourcing, contracting, or contracting out of a
particular function exceeds the anticipated cost of contractor
performance, based on the award (referred to in section 5(b)(3)(G)), or
fails to substantially meet quality control standards (referred to in
section 5(b)(3)(J)), the agency shall either conduct a new public-
private competition or convert the function to performance by Federal
employees not later than the earlier of the date of the expiration of
the contract or the beginning of the first fiscal year which is not
more than 12 months after the initial determination that the cost of a
contracting effort exceeds the anticipated cost of contractor
performance or that quality standards have not been substantially met.
Any resulting terminations for convenience may be undertaken without
cost to the United States Government. This subsection does not apply to
work performed by the private sector prior to the date of enactment of
this Act.
(b) Public-Private Competition.--For each fiscal year, an agency
shall subject to public-private competition an equivalent number of
Federal employee positions and positions held by non-Federal employees
under a contract between an agency and an individual or entity.
(c) Inapplicability of Certain Limitation.--Notwithstanding any
limitation on the number of Federal employees established by law,
regulation, or policy, an agency may continue to employ or may hire
such Federal employees as are necessary to perform work acquired
through public-private competition required by this section.
SEC. 8. SURVEY OF WAGES AND BENEFITS PROVIDED BY CONTRACTORS.
(a) Requirement To Conduct Survey.--Using information provided by
agencies, the Secretary of Labor shall conduct a survey of the wages
and quantifiable benefits provided by contractors to non-Federal
personnel working in various occupations under contracts between
agencies and individuals or entities that were entered into during the
2 fiscal years immediately preceding the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(b) Review.--(1) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management
shall--
(A) review the analysis prepared by the Secretary of Labor
under subsection (a) and determine the extent to which the
wages and quantifiable benefits paid by contractors are
comparable to the wages and quantifiable benefits earned by
Federal employees; and
(B) issue a report on the findings of the review.
(2) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the report shall be submitted to the Committee on Government
Reform of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and published in the Federal
Register.
(c) Guidance.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall issue guidance to implement the provisions of this section.
SEC. 9. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.
The Comptroller General shall report to the Committee on Government
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Governmental Affairs of the Senate every 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act on the compliance by agencies with the
requirements of this Act.
SEC. 10. APPLICABILITY.
This Act--
(1) does not apply with respect to the General Accounting
Office;
(2) does not apply with respect to depot-level maintenance
and repair of the Department of Defense (as defined in section
2460 of title 10, United States Code); and
(3) does not apply with respect to contracts for the
construction of new structures or the remodeling of or
additions to existing structures, but shall apply to all
contracts for the repair and maintenance of any structures.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy.
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