Controversy Over Rules Continues

Although the new A-76 rules address some of the complaints about the traditional process raised by both in-house employees and the contractor community for many years, the revision remains controversial. One especially troublesome provision to federal employee organizations is a change to allow decisions on contracting-out or retaining work in-house to consider “best value” rather than being based on cost alone-although cost would have to make up at least half of a decision. Organizations say that introduces an element of subjectivity that may cause decisions to be tilted by political considerations. The new policy also changes some procedures for calculating costs that OMB says are designed to level the playing field, but which employee organizations fear will tilt more competitions toward contractors. It further makes winning in-house functions vulnerable to having to re-compete in as few as three years, alters appeals procedures and removes the guarantee that an in-house function can reorganize itself into a “most efficient organization” before a cost comparison. Meanwhile, contractors are objecting to OMB’s decision to retain the requirement-although not for streamlined competitions-that a bidder beat the current cost by at least 10 percent to win the competition, a provision they say favors incumbent federal employees.