Outsourcing bills gain ground on Capitol Hill

Congress is weighing several proposals that could alter the future of federal outsourcing efforts-including a ban on contracting out additional jobs until savings can be shown.

The Senate recently passed legislation that would create a panel to determine whether federal privatization rules should be changed, and House lawmakers are weighing two separate bills that would halt most agency outsourcing.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., won support for an amendment to the Senate's 2001 defense authorization bill on June 19 that would require the Comptroller General to appoint and head a panel of government, industry and labor representatives to review privatization rules governmentwide and recommend any changes. The panel would be required to submit a final report to Congress.

Federal outsourcing rules are outlined in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76. The rules require a competition between federal employees and a contractor before most jobs are privatized, with the work going to the lowest bidder.

Warner's proposal was not part of the House version of the Defense authorization bill, but will be weighed for inclusion in the final defense bill when lawmakers confer on the budget later this year.

On June 22, Rep. James Saxton introduced a bill (H.R. 4722) that would ban additional Defense Department outsourcing. The ban would last until five years after Congress finishes closing bases as called for in the 1995 round of base closures and realignments.

"There is conflicting evidence that the current privatization and outsourcing efforts of the Defense Department ... are reducing the cost of support functions within the department," Saxton's bill states.

The proposal also would require the Pentagon to prepare a report for lawmakers outlining costs and savings achieved for jobs that have been contracted out since 1996.

A separate House bill (H.R. 3766) calls for a ban on contracting out any federal jobs if agencies cannot prove outsourcing will save money. The bill, known as the Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting Act, has more than 180 cosponsors in the House and will be introduced in the Senate later this month.

"We need a smarter, more efficient and accountable government when outsourcing contracts, and that is what this bill is all about," said Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., plans to introduce the Senate version of the bill. Bobby Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, praised the legislative efforts. "The privatization of federal services is not about saving money," he said. "It's about moving money from the public to the private sector. Government studies thus far have not found the savings that were promised."

The Defense Department wants to open more than 230,000 jobs to competition by 2005, with hopes of saving more than $10 billion.