Lawmaker says agencies should let contractors telecommute

A lawmaker said Thursday that he plans to add language encouraging telecommuting and telework among federal contractors to a soon-to-be introduced acquisition reform bill. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy, said at a hearing Thursday that he would add the language to the Services Acquisition Reform Act, a bill to be introduced later this year. His measure would stop federal contracting officers from arbitrarily requiring contractors to work on site. "Clearly, we need to do more to encourage contracting officers to permit contractors to telecommute," said Davis' spokesman, David Marin. Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, testified that federal contracting officers are reluctant to allow telecommuting because there is no specific guidance directing them to do so. "Contracting officers do not wish to provide their own interpretation of what is allowable, which may place them in an awkward position," Harris explained. "There are still some agencies where contractor oversight is regarded as counting noses by the hour, so any off-site work is considered to be an abdication of duty." Davis was joined by several other capital area legislators, including Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., all of whom expressed their concern about how telecommuting has not taken hold among federal workers. "We are the poster child for a transportation crisis," declared Norton, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "Traffic problems are sapping the money and energy out of this region." The members echoed concerns raised several times by the General Accounting Office, Office of Personnel Management and labor organizations about how federal managers' attitudes are the biggest barrier to widespread use of telecommuting in the workplace. "You've got to make managers understand how to do it," Norton continued. "If it takes legislation, fine. I do believe the federal government is able to do it." Witnesses suggested that the legislators use financial incentives to force managers to accept telecommuting. "Simply tell them they have to reduce their real estate costs," testified Mark Straton, a vice president for Siemens Enterprise Networks, a Germany-based electronics company with more than 700 offices in the United States. Straton was invited to testify because Siemens has had success with a telecommuting effort. Lawmakers also expressed concern about data security, asking if information leaks or security breaches pose a threat to telecommuting. "I think this is an excuse that's being used," Harris said. "For most of the government workers that we're talking about, I don't see any barriers that can't be overcome."