OFPP Administrator Dan Gordon: Inherently Governmental Definition Coming
March 15th, 2010 by Jack Mann
Dan Gordon, OFPP Administrator
OFPP Administrator Dan Gordon, speaking at a breakfast last Thursday, hopes to complete a draft policy letter which redefines inherently governmental functions by the end of March. “The goal is to get public comment eventually finalize this OFPP policy letter and then be sure everyone knows the rules of the game and that we are providing concrete guidance for the government and for the industry,” he said.
The OFPP has twice before tried to define “inherently governmental,” once in 1992 and again in a 2003 rewrite of OMB Circular A-76. Gordon’s effort comes amid concerns about contractor involvement in the acquisition process, he said last Thursday. “There are too many anecdotes that suggest that work that is really inherently governmental, work that needs to be reserved for federal employees, is, in fact, being done by contractors.”
Additionally, Gordon wants to reform multiple-award contracts, and wonders if there are too many contracts for the same goods and services across the federal government. “One of the first things I did as administrator in terms of written guidance to the agencies was send out a memorandum if you have blanket purchase agreement for goods under the Federal Supply Schedule check to see your discounts,” he said. “If you are not getting any discounts beyond the FSS, you may want to consult with counsel and see if you can renegotiate forthwith to get a discount.”
He referenced a GSA RFQ issued last week as a model for bulk pricing discounts across the federal government, “One of the helpful things in the RFQ GSA issued for office supplies was a request for tiered pricing so as the volume goes up, the prices goes down. The question is in the RFQ, if the volume goes above $10 million, $50 million or $100 million what prices will you offer?”
