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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
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GSA Chief Issues the Statement on New Executive
Order on Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Other
Sustainability Issues
GSA Acting Administrator Denise Turner Roth issued the
following statement on a new Executive Order that will cut the
federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent
over the next decade from 2008 levels -- saving taxpayers up to
$18 billion in avoided energy costs -- and increase the share of
electricity the federal government consumes from renewable
sources to 30 percent. In addition to setting new sustainability
goals for buildings and renewable targets, the new Executive
Order sets new supply chain targets that will require agencies to
include greenhouse gas emissions standards in contracts for at
least five new procurements annually. For more information
about the new Executive Order, click here.
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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
Army agrees to spend $500 million a year through
OASIS
The Army will amp up its use of the General Services
Administration's OASIS contract – to the tune of $500 million a
year – according to a new memorandum of understanding signed
by the two agencies March 16.
OASIS is a multibillion dollar contract that offers professional
services, such as financial management and engineering, scientific
and logistics services. OASIS also features separate contracts for
small businesses and larger firms.
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TGG Website
Gilbane Building Company will pay the
United States $1.1 million to resolve
allegations that W.G. Mills
Incorporated – a company with which
Gilbane merged in November 2010 –
violated the False Claims Act by
creating a front company, Veterans
Constructors Incorporated (VCI), in
order to be awarded a Coast Guard
contract that was designated for
Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small
Businesses (SDVOSBs), the Justice
Department announced March 18.
Read More
Kevin Page, deputy commissioner at GSA's Federal Acquisition
Service, said at the signing ceremony as budgets continue to shrink
agency missions remain critical, and the OASIS contract helps
agencies meet their missions while reducing duplicative contracts.
"Our federal state and local partners need the savings we provide
so that they can focus on their critical missions. And few agencies
have a mission more critical than the United States Army," Page
said at the signing ceremony.
The Army is not the only service that has pledged to use OASIS.
The Air Force signed an agreement last year to spend up to $500
million on the contract vehicle. By agreeing to $500 million a year
the Army gets a break on the contracting fee, dropping the rate
from 0.75 percent to 0.1 percent.
Read More
GSA’s Centralized Mailing List Service
Many of you would have received an email from GSA welcoming
you to their Centralized Mailing List Service (CMLS). CMLS is GSA's
library of acquisition-related publications for government and
business entities. GSA has recently refreshed the appearance and
function of the site.
Through CMLS website you can access electronic versions of
publications including the One Source Directory and the GSA
Global Supply™ catalog. Printed versions of many publications are
available if electronic versions don’t meet your needs.
1990 M Street NW, Suite 480, Washington DC, 20036
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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
Reverse Auctions Once Again in Lawmakers'
Crosshairs
Lawmakers are marshaling arguments to restrict the contracting
tool called a reverse auction, criticizing agency reliance on a
practice dominated by a single private firm at a Thursday
hearing of the House Small Business subcommittee.
Rep. Chabot takes new
approach to increasing small
business contracting
Instead of just trying to increase the
governmentwide small business
contracting goal, the House Small
Business committee is taking a more
nuanced approach.
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), chairman
of the committee, is calling for a new
small business scorecard methodology
that focuses not only on prime
contracts, but also subcontracts and
under-represented industries across
the federal procurement spectrum.
Chabot details this new methodology
in one of the most wide-ranging small
business contracting reform bills in a
long time.
Chabot brings together some of the
ideas from five separate legislative
initiatives in the Small Contractors
Improve Competition Act (H.R. 1481).
Read More
.
Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., who has introduced H.R. 1444 to
limit reverse auctions, said that allowing contractors to bid
electronically with increasingly lower prices to provide goods
and services creates “a race to the bottom” that neither assures
quality nor helps channel work to small businesses. “When
reverse auctions are used properly, they can save taxpayer
dollars,” Hanna said. “Unfortunately, some agencies have used
reverse auctions in a manner that evades vigorous competition
and contractor protections.”
Use of the tool at agencies such as the Veterans Affairs
Department is dominated by a single Vienna, Va.-based firm
called FedBid, which has become controversial for its lobbying
practices. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has been
collecting data on the practice, but has yet to issue guidance,
noted the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.
Transforming GSA’s Professional Services Offerings
Last year, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) began a
comprehensive initiative to review how to better support
federal agencies with their acquisition needs. We analyzed how,
who, and where agencies buy goods and services; our agency
customers’ collective requirements; and, what our customer
agencies are asking and expecting of GSA. Initial conclusions
made from this work confirmed what many have known:

The government acquisition landscape is vast and
fragmented with 500 different departments and agencies
making annual purchases exceeding $400 billion. Agencies
are duplicating efforts, conducting thousands of full-andopen competitions, and establishing hundreds of potentially
redundant acquisition vehicles and programs.
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1990 M Street NW, Suite 480, Washington DC, 20036
202.999.4940
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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
GSA launches review of contracts for commercial items
The General Services Administration plans to review 15 areas where
it thinks contracts for commercial items are inconsistent with federal
law, according to a recent federal register notice
Civilian IT spend $4.5B over 2015
projections
Civilian agency spending on IT is
expected to rise by 10 percent before
the end of fiscal year 2015, with an
increase of $4.5 billion over original
budget projections, according to a new
report from IDC Government Insights.
IDC analysts put the new 2015 IT spend
at $48.1 billion, set to increase by 1.9
percent to $49 billion under the
president's proposed 2016 budget.
In GSA’s notice, the agency makes the argument that the standard
Commercial Supplier Agreements—through which commercial
supplies and services are offered to the public—do not work in all
cases as they contain terms and conditions “that make sense when
the purchaser is a private party but are inappropriate when the
purchaser is the federal government.”
The 15 areas range from the definition of contracting parties to
contract formation to state and foreign laws.
GSA’s federal notice is reminiscent of a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling
that took place last week concerning a bid protest that CGI Federal
made in February 2014.
The protest called into question alterations that the Centers for
Medicaid and Medicare Services made in a solicitation. CGI was the
incumbent contractor. The company claimed that the alterations
restricted competition and violated laws set out in the Federal
Acquisition Regulation.
Health and Human Services has the
largest IT budget at just under $11.4
billion for fiscal 2016, and contributed
the most to the 2015 adjustment.
The Professional Services Council agreed with CGI and issued an
amicus brief that argued that laws around commercial line items
should apply to all commercial procurements, and since GSA
schedules are commercial, the same laws should apply. CGI won that
round.
Spending at HHS, originally projected at
$8.6 billion this fiscal year, is now
pegged at $12.6 billion, an increase of 45
percent.
PSC is voicing similar concerns with GSA's Federal Register notice.
The industry group wants to make sure GSA applies the findings in
the CGI case to its review.
The Medicaid Management Information
System grew by more than 50 percent
from 2014 to 2015, from $4.2 billion to
$6.8 billion, and is the "chief cause of
total civilian IT spending being
overbudget," the report states.
Read More
.
Read More
1990 M Street NW, Suite 480, Washington DC, 20036
202.999.4940
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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
GSA Announces BMO Draft RFP Release and Industry
Day Zone 1 Series March 31 – April 2
A draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new Building
Maintenance and Operations (BMO) contract vehicle is now
available for viewing and comment on FedBizOpps.
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Washington, DC 20036
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March 31 - April 2, from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (EDT), GSA will be
holding a series of Industry Days dedicated to engaging
commercial firms and industry organizations to gather their
input regarding the development of a government-wide,
potential strategic sourcing program related to Building
Maintenance and Operations (BMO) services. The events will
be held in Philadelphia on March 31, New York City on April 1
and Washington, DC on April 2.
At these Industry Days, representatives from GSA will be
discussing:
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
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An overview of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative
(FSSI) and BMO program;
Small and local business utilization strategies;
The BMO acquisition solution including highlights of the
draft RFP that will be posted prior to these events.
GSA is committed to talking with industry in order to develop
the best solution for the government. The expertise provided by
those involved on a daily basis within the BMO industry will be
invaluable in establishing a successful and valuable BMO
program. Once the Draft RFP is posted, a call for questions will
be issued. These questions will be addressed at each
event. Time is provided at the end of each session for open
questions and answers from industry partners.
Source: GSA Interact
1990 M Street NW, Suite 480, Washington DC, 20036
202.999.4940
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March 24, 2015
Issue # 28
Schedule Realignment within VA Federal Supply
Schedule Service
By now you may already know that late last year, the National
Acquisition Center Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Service’s
three contracting teams realigned from Alpha, Lambda and
Omega to Pharmaceutical/Dental, Medical/Surgical and
Services.
Upcoming CGP Events
Federal Healthcare Forum –
March 26 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Changing Strategies in the
Acquisition of Medical Supplies,
Equipment, Services, and
Pharmaceuticals
Registration
April 9 – 7.30 – 11.00
Breakfast Forum on Indirect
Contracting with the Federal
Government
Registration
April 28, 2015 CGP Spring Training
Conference titled The Business of
Government view draft agenda
To see more scheduled CGP events
visit
website
To the extent possible, the Service’s approximate 1,800 active
FSS contracts and 400 incoming offer response packages were
evenly distributed among the three teams. For the new model,
each contracting team is responsible for three Schedules in
lieu of nine. This approach allows for greater specialization and
enhances corporate knowledge building to better service our
customers, contractors and stakeholders.
Improvement to the FSS Service’s ability to execute contracts
and modifications is expected over time. We continue to fill
positions and train the new employees we are bringing on
board as well as our current staff to ensure consistency across
the Service. We ask for your continued patience as we adjust
to our new schedules, continue to hire new personnel and
increase our contract specialists’ knowledge base.
VA’s Commitment to You
One of the FSS Service’s core values is communication. We
recognized that in the past, we have been remiss in our
responsibility to respond to your inquiries timely and keep you
informed of resource issues impacting our ability to process
offers and other contract administration issues. Our goal going
forward is to earn back your trust and faith in our
organization; we commit to you that communication will
improve.
Read More about VA/FSS
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