Contracting Provisions a Mixed Bag

Also as part of the DoD appropriations bill, conferees dropped language that had been added in the Senate that would have barred contractors from gaining an advantage in A-76 contracting out studies by spending less for employee retirement benefits than does the government. However, they retained language stating that for competitions involving more than 10 employees, a contract cannot be awarded unless the bidding company can show a saving of at least 10 percent or $10 million and that the in-house side must be allowed to base its bid on a “most efficient organization.” Those provisions effectively undo at DoD several major changes OMB made to Circular A-76 three years ago; similar restrictions for other agencies are in the pending Transportation-Treasury spending bill. Also retained was language stating that bidders cannot gain an advantage by spending less on health insurance for their employees than does DoD.