Defense bill would halt A-76 competition
A House bill that passed out of committee late today would freeze competitive sourcing for three years and impose new contractor ethics requirements.
The Fiscal 2009 National Defense Authorization Act, which now goes to the full House, also addresses the Defense Department's information technology workforce, health IT standards and green IT efforts.
The bill notes that there are multiple definitions for the term "inherently governmental," which defines jobs not subject to competition with the private sector under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76. The bill would put a three-year moratorium on such competitions.
Other provisions include:
- Requiring DOD to develop a policy to prevent personal conflicts of interest in defense contracts.
- Increasing protection of DOD's right to technical data, which has become a source of disputes with contractors.
- Directing DOD to submit a report analyzing its IT workforce.
- Directing the Interagency Program Office of DOD and the Veterans Affairs Department to develop guidelines supporting fully interoperable electronic health records.
- Authorizing funds to create an IT clearinghouse to speed up the matching of available technologies to meet the needs of combat units.
About the Author
Michael Hardy is the news editor of Federal Computer Week. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelHardyFCW.