OMB Moving Ahead on Contracting Revisions

Despite opposition from employee organizations, the Office of Management and Budget says it is moving ahead with a plan to revamp the approach to contracting out federal jobs along the lines of a proposal made by a recent study commission. The commission recommended adding “best value” considerations-such as technical expertise, innovativeness and past performance–to the decision process, which currently relies heavily on cost factors alone. OMB is working on the concept internally and may soon release proposed changes for public comment. Among other changes, the policy might seek to more strictly enforce performance standards by in-house employees who win a competition.