PSC: Professional Services Council
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Industry Warns Congress That NDAA Provisions Could Increase Costs, Delay Work, Stifle Innovation
Arlington, Va., July 29, 2010—Acquisition policy provisions in the House and Senate versions of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act could have unintended consequences that increase costs, delay programs and stifle innovation, the Professional Services Council, as a member of the Acquisition Reform Working Group (ARWG), said in industry-wide comments submitted to lawmakers on July 28.
Among the ARWG recommendations PSC suggests that Congress adopt:
- Inject an analysis of cost savings and small business impacts into insourcing decisions (House sections 325 and 850).
- Eliminate provisions that would require DoD to make cost at least 50 percent of contract proposal evaluations. This would arbitrarily restrict an agency’s ability to establish proper evaluation criteria and make best-value decisions, which could hurt government performance and ability to obtain the best, most innovative solutions (House sections 851 and 502).
- Improve provisions that address the responsibilities of the Defense Contract Audit Agency and contractors in resolving business system deficiencies. ARWGs recommendations would ensure the fair and timely resolution of deficiencies (Senate section 841 and House section 404).
- Significantly modify or eliminate provisions that mandate contractors adopt supply chain security procedures and restrict contractors from competing for certain opportunities if they don’t implement protections. ARWG encourages DoD to share information about perceived risks with the private sector to allow companies to mitigate or eliminate the risks (Senate section 815).
“Adopting ARWG’s recommendations would ensure Congress’s proposed reforms do not have unintended consequences that could stifle industry innovation, delay programs and drive up the cost to government during this time of increasingly austere budgets,” said PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel Alan Chvotkin.
To read ARWG’s complete commentary click here.
