|
POLICY CORNER
Williams nominated to serve as Administrator, Bibb to retire: The White House announced the nomination of GSA FAS Commissioner Jim Williams to the top spot at the agency. Williams has indicated that he would be honored to serve as administrator and hopes for a speedy confirmation. David Bibb, who has been serving as Acting Administrator, announced that he will retire from government service in September 2008.
President signs H.R. 3179 into law:
On June 26th, the President signed H.R. 3179, a bill that allows state and local governments to utilize GSA Schedule 84 to purchase law enforcement, firefighting, and security products and services. GSA FAS Commissioner Jim Williams, who has recently been nominated to head up the agency as Administrator, supports this legislation and hopes to see additional bills that would open up the entire Schedules Program to state and local governments.
Defense Authorization has heady amendment: On May 22, the House passed the Defense Authorization bill with a vote of 384-23. Making its way into the bill was a "Clean Contracting" amendment, introduced by Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). The amendment includes language from several contract reform bills:
- The Accountability in Contracting Act –would minimize sole-source contracts, limit the length of certain noncompetitive contracts and require agencies to buy property and services on a competitive basis.
- The Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act (H.R. 5712) -a bill that would close a loophole and require contractors performing work overseas to comply with ethics rules.
- The Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act (H.R. 3033) -would require the General Services Administration to create a database that includes information on government contractors such as adjudicated proceedings against contractors.
- The Government Contractor Accountability Act (H.R. 3928) -would require some contractors to publicly disclose their top executives’ names and salaries.
Join a Coalition policy committee!
Interested in helping shape procurement policy? Take an active part in the Coalition's advocacy efforts by participating in upcoming Committee meetings. Participation in Coalition Committees is reserved for Coalition members only. For more information, please visit the Committees page which can be found under Policy.
MEMBERSHIP CORNER
Did you know that over three quarters of the top 50 GSA schedule contractors are members of the Coalition for Government Procurement? According to a recent ranking of schedule contractors compiled by Federal Sources, Inc. and published in the Federal Times, Coalition members are the number one companies in almost every schedule industry segment. Nine of the top 10 schedule contractors are Coalition members, with that figure jumping to 10 out 10 for the IT schedule.
|
UPCOMING COALITION EVENTS
For more information or to register for any of the following events, please visit the Events page.
Golf Tournament 2008
This year, the golf tournament will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at an all-new location in MD at Whiskey Creek in Ijamsville (just 35 miles north of D.C). The course will be completely dedicated to our tournament for the afternoon.
Small Business Forum
Join the Coalition to hear speakers from both industry and government comment on the place of small business within government contracting. Legislative updates and small business focused government programs will be discussed. Register now for this popular event.
Fall Conference & EIPs
Register for the always-sell-out Fall Conference now! The Fall Conference 2008 will give companies a head start on preparing their strategic approach to the government market and a heads up on how the rules governing your contracts may change. The Fall Conference is the largest, most important conference held by your association each year. Register today to ensure your spot at this most important of all gatherings that has been called “the best bang for your procurement buck”.
|
