[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2413 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2413
To provide for the appropriate use of bridge contracts in Federal
procurement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 8, 2018
Mrs. McCaskill introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the appropriate use of bridge contracts in Federal
procurement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bridge Contract Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. REVISIONS TO FEDERAL PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.
(a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procurement
Policy, in consultation with the Administrator of the General Services
Administration, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on governmentwide policies, practices, and uses of
bridge contracts.
(b) Amendment of Federal Acquisition Regulation and Related
Guidance.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory
Council shall, based on the findings of the review under this
section, amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation--
(A) to provide for a common definition of bridge
contracts, with consideration given to--
(i) extensions to existing contracts beyond
the base and option years to avoid lapses in
service caused by delays in awarding subsequent
contracts; and
(ii) new short-term contracts awarded on a
sole source basis to avoid lapses in service
caused by delays in awarding subsequent
contracts; and
(B) to provide for the appropriate use of such
contracts, including, as appropriate, parameters
related to duration and cost.
(2) Guidance.--The Administrator for Federal Procurement
Policy, in consultation with the Administrator of General
Services, may issue guidance to executive agencies regarding
the use of bridge contracts, including with respect to duration
and cost, and related guidance to implement the policies
described under paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. AGENCY TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTS.
(a) Guidance on Information Collection.--Not later than 30 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for
Federal Procurement Policy shall issue guidance for executive agencies
to collect information on the use of bridge contracts. The guidance
shall include an interim definition of bridge contracts for agencies to
use in their reporting until the Federal Acquisition Regulation is
amended pursuant to section 2(b)(1).
(b) Reporting to Office of Federal Procurement Policy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2019, and by
September 30 of each subsequent year thereafter until 2025, the
head of each executive agency shall submit to the Administrator
for Federal Procurement Policy a report on the use by the
agency of bridge contracts.
(2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following elements:
(A) The common definition for bridge contracts used
by contracting offices of the executive agency.
(B) The total number of bridge contracts entered
into during the previous 5 fiscal years.
(C) The estimated value of each contract that
required the use of a bridge contract and the cost of
the bridge contract or contracts.
(D) The reasons for and cost of each bridge
contract.
(E) The types of services or goods being acquired
under each bridge contract.
(F) The length of the initial contract that
required the use of a bridge contract, including the
base and any exercised option years, and the cumulative
length of any bridge contract or contracts related to
the initial contract.
(G) A description of how many of the contracts that
required bridge contracts were subsequently recompeted
and how many of those recompeted contracts were the
subject of a bid protest.
(H) A description of existing statutory,
regulatory, or agency guidance that the agency followed
to execute the bridge contracts.
(I) Any other matters determined to be relevant by
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy or the General
Services Administration.
(3) Publication.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall be posted on a publicly available website of the
executive agency.
(4) Quarterly notifications.--
(A) In general.--On a quarterly basis as determined
under guidance prescribed by the Administrator for
Federal Procurement Policy, each executive agency shall
submit a list of bridge contracts issued during the
prior quarter to the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy to be compiled by the Administrator into a
single report and presented to the appropriate
congressional committees.
(B) Information required.--The lists submitted
under subparagraph (A) shall include unique contract
identifiers, beginning and end dates of initial
contracts, beginning and end dates of bridge contracts,
and the reasons or rationale for the use of each bridge
contract.
(c) Governmentwide Report.--Not later than March 31, 2019, and by
March 31 of each subsequent year until 2025, the Administrator for
Federal Procurement Policy shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report summarizing the use by executive
agencies of bridge contracts, including any recommendations for
legislation to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of
bridge contracts.
(d) Public Notice.--Each executive agency shall provide public
notice within 30 days after entering into a bridge contract, including
the information required to be reported in subsection (b)(2) to the
extent it is available.
SEC. 4. AGENCY POLICIES.
(a) In General.--The head of each executive agency shall develop
policies and procedures, to the greatest extent practicable, that seek
to minimize the use of bridge contracts while providing for
continuation of services to be performed through contracts and ensure
appropriate planning by contracting officials.
(b) Required Elements.--The policies developed under subsection (a)
shall include the following elements:
(1) Sufficient time and planning to review contract
requirements, compete contracts as appropriate, enter into
contracts, and consider the possibility of bid protests.
(2) For contracts that do not meet timeliness standards or
which require entering into bridge contracts, contracting
officials shall notify the chief acquisition officer of the
executive agency and the head of the executive agency.
(3) The Chief Acquisition Officer must approve any bridge
contract that lasts longer than six months, and the head of the
agency must approve any bridge contract that lasts longer than
one year.
(c) Exceptions.--The policies developed under this section do not
apply to--
(1) service contracts in support of contingency operations,
humanitarian assistance, or disaster relief;
(2) service contracts in support of national security
emergencies declared with respect to named operations; or
(3) service contracts entered into pursuant to
international agreements.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform and the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives.
(2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United
States Code.
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