New ‘Insourcing’ Rules Would be Set

According to a report on the measure filed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill would set a new series of guidelines for "insourcing" new functions and those previously contracted out–effectively a reversal of the OMB Circular A-76 contracting out process. Agencies would have to ensure that consideration is given to using federal employees for work that could be performed in-house without limitations to numbers. Special consideration would have to be given to functions that: had been performed by federal employees at any time in the last 10 years; are closely associated with the performance of an inherently governmental function; have been performed under a contract that was granted non-competitively; or has suffered from cost or quality problems. The House has not released a detailed description of its provisions, but according to an analysis done for Congress, that bill includes similar insourcing provisions and further would require that all cost studies–not just those involving more than 10 federal employees–would have to show savings of at least 10 percent or $10 million in order for the work to be contracted out.