The A-76 has been dormant for 14 years, should it be revived?

It’s been almost six years since Democratic Senator Barbara Mikuluski of Maryland left Congress, but her influence in stopping all public-private competition in government hasn’t diminished.

From the 2009 appropriations bill to today, 31 years of senatorial disdain for elections under Circular A-76 remain ingrained in all agencies.

But don’t look now. The facade is cracked. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have…

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It’s been almost six years since Democratic Senator Barbara Mikuluski of Maryland left Congress, but her influence in stopping all public-private competition in government hasn’t diminished.

From the 2009 appropriations bill to today, 31 years of senatorial disdain for elections under Circular A-76 remain ingrained in all agencies.

But don’t look now. The facade is cracked. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are beginning to poke holes in the 14-year-old ban by asking simple questions about the Federal Activity Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998.

The FAIR Act requires agencies to publish an inventory of all positions that they determine are not governmental in nature and therefore may be exposed to competition from the private sector.

“The timely posting of a clear and comprehensive FAIR Act Inventory is an important component of open and transparent government. Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.), Subcommittee Chair of the People, wrote: Pete Sessions (Texas Republican) and Lisa McClain (Michigan Republican). April 4th letter To Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Lawmakers said the inventory status of the FAIR Act was poor, with many inventories posted online in “barely decipherable form.”

And the Commission’s conclusions are not exactly wrong.

The Federal News Network’s review of the CFO law agency’s FAIR law inventory is based on: Link provided by The Federal Acquisition Policy Office has shown a lack of heed to the FAIR Act.

OMB last issued a notice on the FAIR Act in 2019. 2017 stockThe link in the OMB notice does not go to a specific site, but it is the institution’s main web page, so you should search the FAIR inventory.

Since the OFPP has been without a Senate-approved leader since January 2021 and has had no candidates since June, there has been no new A-76 or FAIR inventory inventory since the 2011 definition update. We have not issued any policies or memos or anything really. government in nature.

Emails to OMB seeking comment on the letter and A-76 were not returned.

Mikuluski’s provision in the appropriations bill, which barred government agencies from spending money on competing A-76s, nearly killed the idea of ​​competing for work with the private sector.

bills that went nowhere

The Pentagon tried to Bring back the A-76 The Pentagon’s goal was to empower local commanders and personnel officers to determine the appropriate mix of uniformed members, civilian workers, and contractors for the missions they oversee. . The Department of Defense wanted to make these decisions in a decentralized manner because different military commands and defense agencies have different workforce requirements. What happened to that legislative proposal is unknown.

The last known public-private competition was in 2020 from a sub-agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority. overthrow the plan Outsourcing technical workers to the private sector. TVA receives no funding from Congress and sells power through the Tennessee Valley, which includes parts of seven states: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. I have received a budget for this. As such, the Appropriations Act ban did not affect the company’s ability to outsource the work of TVA’s employees.

Lawmakers are asking OMB whether it still makes sense to use the methodology under A-76.

“At a time of soaring annual deficits, governments should use all cost-cutting tools at their disposal, including outsourcing functions that allow the private sector to perform more efficiently,” the letter said.

This overall effort to revive competitive procurement is being driven by Peter Warren, a former Trump administration appointee to the Office of Management and Budget, according to sources. A senior adviser to the House of Representatives (R-Ky.), Warren served as Associate Director of Federal Management Policy at OMB for almost three years.

The A-76, which was last popular during the George W. Bush administration, and public-private competition are problematic, but that doesn’t mean revising your approach and reviewing your inventory isn’t a good idea.

Indeed, Mikulski and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) do it in 2011 Correcting a long standing error in the Agencies Unsustainable Sourcing (CLEAN UP) Act. The bill never made headway in both houses of Congress.

Congressional Research Service June 2020 report The A-76 dates back to 1966 and had its last major revision in 2003.

CRS posted four questions focused on the Department of Defense, but could actually apply to any agency as to whether to repeal, retain or change the A-76’s long suspension. there is.

  • To what extent should existing laws and policy guidance on public-private competition need to be modified to reflect best practices and lessons learned?
  • What benefits would be realized by requiring a gradual rollback of the moratorium or allowing selected public-private competitions to proceed as pilots?
  • Should certain governments perform commercial-type functions beyond those already exempted by statutes and policies and be protected from public-private competition, and if so, which functions?
  • Has the Department of Defense developed a consistent methodology and procedures for comparing public and private sector costs, and a consistent methodology for capturing and reporting cost savings or performance improvements from public-private competition?
  • Noting that it has been over a decade since the Department of Defense conducted public-private competition, current DoD personnel are well-informed about the public-private competition process to be able to fairly and effectively evaluate the A-76 competition. Do you have?

Of course, mentioning federal jobs competing with the A-76 drew the ire of the federal workers’ union. trying to stop the A-76 during the Bush administration. And it’s logical to expect AFGE and other federal unions to quickly close the door to competitive procurement that the Biden administration is even thinking of opening.

Unions Seek to Boost the Federal Reserve System

In fact, AFGE wrote a letter On March 27, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was informed that the Defense Industrial Base national defense needsOrganic facilities “do not have to be persuaded, incentivized or nationalized by the private sector, they can be mobilized as needed,” he said. AFGE said the preference for contracts undermines the organic side of things. The union provided a list of legislative and regulatory changes to encourage the use of organic facilities, including pay raises for wage-grade employees and the conversion of term and temporary workers to full-time employees.

The question lawmakers are asking is a highly political issue, but not necessarily a bad one.

With much of the government already outsourced to the private sector and the federal workforce being understaffed and overworked in so many areas, there are functions that could eventually be transferred to the private sector. ?Work?

The Trump administration has pushed the idea of ​​moving federal workers from low-value manual jobs to high-value analytical work. Instead of just focusing on jobs where the A-76 competes with the private sector, what jobs should the federal government no longer do, and technologies such as automation of robotics processes and the private sector taking on them? role whether it can?

Don’t expect the Democratic-led Congress and White House to suddenly become fans of public-private competition after the A-76 has been dormant for 14 years. We can improve federal services and not impact the workforce.



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It’s been almost six years since Democratic Senator Barbara Mikuluski of Maryland left Congress, but her influence in stopping all public-private competition in government hasn’t diminished. From the 2009 appropriations bill to today, 31 years of senatorial disdain for elections under Circular A-76 remain ingrained in all agencies. But don’t look now. The facade is cracked. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have…read moreIt’s been almost six years since Democratic Senator Barbara Mikuluski of Maryland left Congress, but her influence in stopping all public-private competition in government hasn’t diminished.
From the 2009 appropriations bill to today, 31 years of senatorial disdain for elections under Circular A-76 remain ingrained in all agencies.
But don’t look now. The facade is cracked. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are beginning to poke holes in the 14-year-old ban by asking simple questions about the Federal Activity Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998.
The FAIR Act requires agencies to publish an inventory of all positions that they determine are not governmental in nature and therefore may be exposed to competition from the private sector.

“The timely posting of a clear and comprehensive FAIR Act Inventory is an important component of open and transparent government. Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.), Subcommittee Chair of the People, wrote: Pete Sessions (Texas Republican) and Lisa McClain (Michigan Republican). April 4th letter To Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Lawmakers said the inventory status of the FAIR Act was poor, with many inventories posted online in “barely decipherable form.”
And the Commission’s conclusions are not exactly wrong.
The Federal News Network’s review of the CFO law agency’s FAIR law inventory is based on: Link provided by The Federal Acquisition Policy Office has shown a lack of heed to the FAIR Act.
OMB last issued a notice on the FAIR Act in 2019. 2017 stockThe link in the OMB notice does not go to a specific site, but it is the institution’s main web page, so you should search the FAIR inventory.
Since the OFPP has been without a Senate-approved leader since January 2021 and has had no candidates since June, there has been no new A-76 or FAIR inventory inventory since the 2011 definition update. We have not issued any policies or memos or anything really. government in nature.
Emails to OMB seeking comment on the letter and A-76 were not returned.
Mikuluski’s provision in the appropriations bill, which barred government agencies from spending money on competing A-76s, nearly killed the idea of ​​competing for work with the private sector.

bills that went nowhere
The Pentagon tried to Bring back the A-76 The Pentagon’s goal was to empower local commanders and personnel officers to determine the appropriate mix of uniformed members, civilian workers, and contractors for the missions they oversee. . The Department of Defense wanted to make these decisions in a decentralized manner because different military commands and defense agencies have different workforce requirements. What happened to that legislative proposal is unknown.
The last known public-private competition was in 2020 from a sub-agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority. overthrow the plan Outsourcing technical workers to the private sector. TVA receives no funding from Congress and sells power through the Tennessee Valley, which includes parts of seven states: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. I have received a budget for this. As such, the Appropriations Act ban did not affect the company’s ability to outsource the work of TVA’s employees.
Lawmakers are asking OMB whether it still makes sense to use the methodology under A-76.
“At a time of soaring annual deficits, governments should use all cost-cutting tools at their disposal, including outsourcing functions that allow the private sector to perform more efficiently,” the letter said.
This overall effort to revive competitive procurement is being driven by Peter Warren, a former Trump administration appointee to the Office of Management and Budget, according to sources. A senior adviser to the House of Representatives (R-Ky.), Warren served as Associate Director of Federal Management Policy at OMB for almost three years.
The A-76, which was last popular during the George W. Bush administration, and public-private competition are problematic, but that doesn’t mean revising your approach and reviewing your inventory isn’t a good idea.
Indeed, Mikulski and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) do it in 2011 Correcting a long standing error in the Agencies Unsustainable Sourcing (CLEAN UP) Act. The bill never made headway in both houses of Congress.

Congressional Research Service June 2020 report The A-76 dates back to 1966 and had its last major revision in 2003.
CRS posted four questions focused on the Department of Defense, but could actually apply to any agency as to whether to repeal, retain or change the A-76’s long suspension. there is.

To what extent should existing laws and policy guidance on public-private competition need to be modified to reflect best practices and lessons learned?
What benefits would be realized by requiring a gradual rollback of the moratorium or allowing selected public-private competitions to proceed as pilots?
Should certain governments perform commercial-type functions beyond those already exempted by statutes and policies and be protected from public-private competition, and if so, which functions?
Has the Department of Defense developed a consistent methodology and procedures for comparing public and private sector costs, and a consistent methodology for capturing and reporting cost savings or performance improvements from public-private competition?
Noting that it has been over a decade since the Department of Defense conducted public-private competition, current DoD personnel are well-informed about the public-private competition process to be able to fairly and effectively evaluate the A-76 competition. Do you have?

Of course, mentioning federal jobs competing with the A-76 drew the ire of the federal workers’ union. trying to stop the A-76 during the Bush administration. And it’s logical to expect AFGE and other federal unions to quickly close the door to competitive procurement that the Biden administration is even thinking of opening.
Unions Seek to Boost the Federal Reserve System
In fact, AFGE wrote a letter On March 27, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was informed that the Defense Industrial Base national defense needsOrganic facilities “do not have to be persuaded, incentivized or nationalized by the private sector, they can be mobilized as needed,” he said. AFGE said the preference for contracts undermines the organic side of things. The union provided a list of legislative and regulatory changes to encourage the use of organic facilities, including pay raises for wage-grade employees and the conversion of term and temporary workers to full-time employees.
The question lawmakers are asking is a highly political issue, but not necessarily a bad one.
With much of the government already outsourced to the private sector and the federal workforce being understaffed and overworked in so many areas, there are functions that could eventually be transferred to the private sector. ?Work?
The Trump administration has pushed the idea of ​​moving federal workers from low-value manual jobs to high-value analytical work. Instead of just focusing on jobs where the A-76 competes with the private sector, what jobs should the federal government no longer do, and technologies such as automation of robotics processes and the private sector taking on them? role whether it can?
Don’t expect the Democratic-led Congress and White House to suddenly become fans of public-private competition after the A-76 has been dormant for 14 years. We can improve federal services and not impact the workforce.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2023/04/a-76-has-been-dormant-for-14-years-can-it-be-should-it-be-revived/ The A-76 has been dormant for 14 years, should it be revived?

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