The White House has stated its opposition to a provision
in the fiscal 2006 Transportation, Treasury, Judiciary,
HUD and related agencies appropriations bill, that would
require all but the smallest public-private competitions
be decided solely on the basis of lowest cost.
It said such a rule would marginalize the consideration
for quality and weaken the competitive sourcing initiative
of the president’s management agenda as a management tool.
Specifically, it said it would oppose any effort to reverse
already completed competitions, such as the Federal Aviations
Administration’s award of a $1.9 billion flight services
contract to Lockheed Martin. “If the final version of the
bill contains a provision to prohibit implementation of the
FAA competition of flight service station operations, the
President’s senior advisors would recommend he veto the
bill,” according to a White House policy statement.
The House version of the measure would effectively undo
the contract award, while a Senate amendment would allow
displaced employees who were within two years of retirement
eligibility to remain as temporary federal workers until
reaching eligibility.
The administration also objected to procedural details of
the provision – section 843 – that it says “undermine efforts
to eliminate redundant technology investments made by
individual agencies to support the performance of common
commercial functions, such as accounting services.”
The White House also complained that the bill only provides
$8 million for information security for the Federal
Aviation Administration – $4 million below the program’s
required funding level.
