GSA chief outlines procurement reorganization

General Services Administration employees, facing growing procurement responsibilities and an agency reorganization, were told by their chief administrator in a "state of the agency" address Wednesday that agencies are relying more than ever on them for their acquisition needs.

Addressing GSA employees at the agency's Washington headquarters and by Webcast in regional offices, GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry said that the agency is taking steps to focus on its core mission of acquiring products and services for the government.

After the address, Perry told reporters that merging the agency's two major procurement divisions--the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology Service--would bring increased efficiency. He said that the necessary legislation for the reorganization has been sent through the Office of Management and Budget to House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., who likely will seek to add the legislation to a fiscal 2006 appropriations bill.

A draft version of the overhaul plan is due May 31 to GSA's reorganization steering committee, and the final plan is due July 31.

Perry did not indicate who would lead the combined division, and a spokeswoman said that it's too early to tell.

"Our folks are already modifying procedures so we can merge the two [procurement] funds, and we're hoping the legislation goes through in time for this," Perry said. "Today when agencies are making acquisitions, they are looking for total solutions that combine [the services of FTS and FSS]."

Perry said agencies no longer look for technology services separate from their other procurement needs. He gave an example of a State Department request for a security gate that had to go through both FTS and FSS--one for the gate and one for the security technology. "Sometimes they say 'Forget it. I'll do it myself.' "

As for the shortage of contracting officers, Perry said the government should centralize procurement in GSA, and agencies that are not in the procurement business should not hire such officers. He said there are exceptions, like the Defense Department and the Energy Department's national laboratories, but he said it would make sense in his view for the procurement of information technology, commercial items and vehicles to go through GSA.

"[The agencies] can't do it overnight," Perry said. "But some agencies have said GSA will do more of their procurement over time."

Perry said the changes within GSA can seem threatening to its employees, but that change can also be exciting. "There are so many changes that are happening within the agency … these are all individual pieces of the same fabric."