Conferees limit spending on A-76 studies at Interior, Forest Service

A version of the 2004 Interior Department budget bill agreed upon by House-Senate negotiators Monday night allows Interior and the Forest Service to begin new A-76 studies this year, but limits on how much they can spend on them.

The compromise bill would prevent Interior from spending more than $2.5 million on public-private job competitions in fiscal 2004. To spend more, the department would need to submit a request to shift, or "re-program," funds from other accounts. The Forest Service, which is part of the Agriculture Department but receives money from the Interior bill, would be allowed to spend up to $5 million.

Competitive sourcing officials at Interior and the Forest Service could not be reached for comment on what impact the limits would have on their A-76 initiatives.

In recent interviews with Government Executive, Thomas Mills, the Forest Service's deputy director for business operations, said that by the end of fiscal 2003, the agency had spent roughly $18.2 million on competitive sourcing studies The Forest Service has saved $6.1 million as a result of public-private job competitions to date, he said.

The conference version of the Interior budget bill also contains language requiring agencies to submit reports detailing A-76 expenditures, savings achieved through competitive sourcing and other related information.

Conferees also granted in-house teams vying for work at Interior or the Forest Service a cost advantage. The advantage would knock down the price of the in-house bid by either 10 percent or $10 million-whichever figure turns out to be a lower dollar amount. A similar provision made it into the final version of the Defense Department's appropriations bill.

But conferees rejected language passed by the House in July that would have barred Interior and the Forest Service from conducting new public-private job competitions in fiscal 2004. The agencies could have completed studies already under way. Senators voted down a similar provision in late September.

Under the compromise version, Interior and the Forest Service can initiate new competitions, as long as costs stay within the established spending limits. The Forest Service plans to start competitions on roughly 1,800 employees in fiscal 2004. At Interior, roughly 1,500 employees are slated to face private sector competition in fiscal 2004.