Supplemental bills would restrict award fees

Congress is working to restrict award fees for contractors’ work.

The House passed its fiscal 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 2346) on May 14 with a provision that would not allow the Defense Department to spend its money on award fees to defense contractors unless DOD judged their work using set criteria.

The bill would boost the importance of the guidance on award fees in the fiscal 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. That law required the defense secretary to write rules on how DOD should appropriately link award fees to acquisition outcomes. The law bolstered checks on what is good contractor performance worthy of the extra money.

In particular, the authorization law required, among other things, guidance on how to judge performance, determine if a contractor should get even a percentage of the award for satisfactory work, and analyze whether award fees actually work to improve contractors' work.

Also on May 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee also approved its version of the supplemental bill (S. 1054) that has a similar provision that would restrict award fees.

The provisions align with a March 4, 2009, memo from President Barack Obama designed to stop the use of cost-reimbursement contracts, including ones that would pay for contractors’ cost plus an award fee for reaching certain performance measures.

“We will end unnecessary no-bid contracts and cost-plus contracts that run up the bill that is paid by the American people,” Obama said at a press conference in March. Obama predicted his reforms would save the government $40 billion each year.

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SBA needs money, senators say

Congress gave the Small Business Administration more money in its fiscal 2008 appropriations bill than President Bush requested for the agency, which some senators say is a signal to the president that SBA needs more funding in 2009.

In the omnibus appropriations bill, Congress gave SBA $569 million — $105 million more than the president's request and $40 million more than Congress provided in 2007.

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Lawmakers to micromanage more

Lawmakers, frustrated by the Office of Management and Budget’s practice of putting federal projects on various watch lists without explaining why, have decided to do something about it.

In the fiscal 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill President Bush signed into law Dec. 26, Congress included a governmentwide provision that requires OMB to publish in its annual budget request the specific reasons why a project is on its High-Risk and Management watch lists.

“The information will help [the Government Accountability Office] and Congress to spot trends, track progress and recommend corrective action,” lawmakers wrote in the legislation.

The new requirement follows two years of debate between OMB and lawmakers about the use and effectiveness of those lists.

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House passes $516B omnibus spending bill

The House passed a $516 billion omnibus spending bill Dec. 17, days before a continuing resolution expires, but the legislation’s future is uncertain.

The Senate is closely divided on the fiscal 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act and will need to resolve senators’ differences before the bill is sent to the White House.

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Bush signs continuing resolution

President Bush signed a continuing resolution today that Congress passed late Dec. 13. The resolution extends agencies funding until Dec. 21.

“I hope that Congress will use the additional time productively,” Bush said after a meeting with his Cabinet. He urged lawmakers to pass a clean spending package at his proposed spending levels. He has already issued veto threats on appropriations bills that are higher than his spending proposals. He also said the package should not include language that changes policies, and it should include funding for troops.

“It would be disappointing if members of Congress did not finish their work by the holidays,” Bush said. But if they can’t, he said they should pass a one-year continuing resolution and not carry 2007 business into 2008.

The Senate passed the resolution Dec. 13 by voice vote, and the House passed it 385 to 27. The amended resolution would have expired today.

With the amended resolution, government work will continue until Dec. 21 at fiscal 2007 spending levels.

This is the third continuing resolution already in 2008. Congress and the White House have pushed back and forth over spending bills. Congress has considered an omnibus appropriations bill, and President Bush has threatened to veto any such measure.

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Sen. Byrd: 'It's time to govern, Mr. President.'

The White House should start working with Congress to pass a budget, a top Democratic senator said Dec. 10, after the Bush administration threatened last week to veto an omnibus spending bill that may come before Congress this week.

“The White House should cease its political posturing and work with the Congress to complete the appropriations process,” said Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a statement.

“It's time to govern, Mr. President,” he said.

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House passes $460B defense spending bill

After less than 10 minutes of debate, the House passed a massive $460.3 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2008 that contains a resolution to continue funding the government through Dec. 14.

The bill, in the form of a conference report, addresses many problems inside the Defense Department, including contract accountability.

The legislation would provide funding for additional civilian inspector general employees to bring more oversight to defense contract services.

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Congress passes continuing resolution

The government’s work will continue at least through Nov. 16.

The Senate passed a continuing resolution Sept. 27 making appropriations for fiscal 2008. The House passed its version Sept. 26, and next, President Bush must sign the legislation.

The resolution avoids a government showdown and gives agencies money to continue their work from fiscal 2007.

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