Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Federal Improvement in Technology Procurement Act

or the

FIT Procurement Act

Definitions

In this Act:(1)

Acquisition workforce

The term acquisition workforce means employees of an executive agency who are responsible for procurement, contracting, program or project management that involves the performance of acquisition-related functions, or others as designated by the Chief Acquisition Officer, senior procurement executive, or head of the contracting activity.(2)

Administrator

The term Administrator means the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.(3)

Chief Acquisition Officer

The term Chief Acquisition Officer means a Chief Acquisition Officer appointed pursuant to section 1702 of title 41, United States Code.(4)

Cross-functional

The term cross-functional means a structure in which individuals with different functional expertise or from different areas of an organization work together as a team.(5)

Executive agency

The term executive agency has the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code.(6)

Experiential learning

The term experiential learning means on-the-job experiences or simulations that serve to enhance workforce professional skills.(7)

Information and communications technology

The term information and communications technology—(A)has the meaning given the term in section 4713(k) of title 41, United States Code; and(B)includes information and communications technologies covered by any definition contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, including a definition added after the date of the enactment of this Act by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council pursuant to notice and comment.(8)

Relevant committees of congress

The term relevant committees of Congress means the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives.(9)

Senior procurement executive

The term senior procurement executive means a senior procurement executive designated pursuant to section 1702(c) of title 41, United States Code.(10)

Small business

The term small business has the meaning given the term small business concern in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

Acquisition workforce

(a)

Experiential learning

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Institute shall establish a pilot program to consider the incorporation of experiential learning into the Federal Credentials Program, the Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting Officer’s Representative Program, and the Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers Program, or any successor program.(b)

Training on information and communications technology acquisition

(1)

In general

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, in coordination with the Administrator, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, and in consultation with the heads of other executive agencies as determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, shall develop and implement or otherwise provide a cross-functional information and communications technology acquisition training program for acquisition workforce members involved in acquiring information and communications technology. The training shall do the following:(A)Include learning objectives related to market research, communicating with industry and industry perspectives on the procurement process, including how investment decisions are impacted by Government communication and engagement, developing requirements, acquisition planning, best practices for developing and executing outcome-based contracts, and source selection strategy, evaluating proposals, and awarding and administering contracts for information and communications technology.(B)Include learning objectives that provide a basic understanding of key technologies executive agencies need, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabled applications, and cybersecurity solutions.(C)Include learning objectives that encourage the use of commercial or commercially available off-the-shelf technologies to the greatest extent practicable.(D)Include case studies of lessons learned from Federal information and communications technology procurements and contracts, and related matters as determined to be relevant by the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute.(E)Include experiential learning opportunities, and opportunities to practice acquisition teaming involving collaboration of team members with varied relevant domain expertise to complete acquisition-related tasks, including tasks with accelerated timelines.(F)Include continuous learning recommendations and resources to keep the skills of acquisition workforce members current, including tools that help adopt or adapt the use of innovative acquisition practices or other flexible business practices commonly used in commercial buys.(G)Be made available to acquisition workforce members designated by a Chief Acquisition Officer, senior procurement executive, or head of the contracting activity to participate in the training program.(H)Inform executive agencies about streamlined and alternative procurement methods for procurement of information and communications technology, including—(i)simplified procedures for certain commercial products and commercial services in accordance with subpart 13.5 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, prize competitions under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358), competitive programs that encourage businesses to engage in Federal research or research and development with the potential for commercialization, and joint venture partnerships;(ii)innovative procurement techniques designed to streamline the procurement process and lower barriers to entry, such as use of oral presentations and product demonstrations instead of lengthy written proposals, appropriately leveraging performance and outcomes-based contracting, and other techniques discussed on the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations or other similar successor knowledge management portals; and(iii)information on appropriate use, examples and templates, and any other information determined relevant by the Administrator to assist contracting officers and other members of the acquisition workforce in using the procedures described in clauses (i) and (ii).(I)Incorporate learning objectives to identify and mitigate waste, fraud, and abuse and ensure the protection of established privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties in the procurement process.(2)

Report

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute shall provide to the relevant committees of Congress, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council—(A)a report on the progress of the Director in developing and implementing or otherwise providing the information and communications technology acquisition training described in paragraph (1); and(B)a list of any acquisition training that the Director determines to be outdated or no longer necessary.(3)

Duration

The training program shall be updated as appropriate, but at least every 2 years after implementation, and offered for a minimum of 6 years following the date of implementation of the training program.(c)

Acquisition workforce training fund

Section 1703(i)(3) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking Five percent and inserting Seven and a half percent.(d)

Harmonization of acquisition workforce training requirements

Section 2 of the Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act (Public Law 117–207; 41 U.S.C. 1703 note) is amended—(1)in subsection (a)(4), by striking Director.—The term Director means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. and inserting Administrator.—The term Administrator means the Administrator of General Services.. (2)in subsection (b)—(A)in paragraph (1), by striking Director, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services and any other person determined relevant by the Director and inserting Administrator, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;(B)in paragraph (4), by striking Director and inserting Administrator;(C)in paragraph (5), by striking Director and inserting Administrator; and(D)in paragraph (6), by striking Director and inserting Administrator.

Innovative procurement methods

(a)

Increase in simplified acquisition threshold

Section 134 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking $250,000 and inserting $500,000.(b)

Increase in micro purchase threshold

Section 1902(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking $10,000 and inserting $25,000..(c)

Advances for commercial technology subscriptions and tenancy

Section 3324(d) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—(1)in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ; and and inserting a semicolon;(2)in paragraph (2)—(A)by inserting or commercially available content after publication; and(B)by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and(3)by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(3)charges for information and communications technology subscriptions, reservations, or tenancy, which means the sharing of computing resources in a private or public environment, including cloud environments, for which the ordering agency defines appropriate access and security standards.

Increasing competition in Federal contracting

(a)

Use of past performance

(1)

In general

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue guidance, including examples and templates where appropriate, on—(A)when a wider range of projects, such as commercial or non-government, as well as Government projects, should be accepted as relevant past performance, in order to have increased competition among eligible firms with capability to perform a requirement, such as a requirement without much precedent;(B)a means by which an agency may validate non-government past performance references, such as by requiring an official of an entity providing past performance references to attest to their authenticity and by providing verifiable contact information for the references; and(C)use of alternative evaluation methods other than past performance that may be appropriate for a requirement without much precedent, such as demonstrations and testing of technologies as part of the proposal process.(2)

Supplement not supplant

The guidance issued under paragraph (1) shall supplement existing Federal and agency policy and procedures for consideration of past performance and other evaluation factors and methods.(b)

Enhancing competition in Federal procurement

(1)

Council recommendations

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall convene the Chief Acquisition Officers Council (in this section referred to as the Council), to make recommendations to identify and eliminate specific, unnecessary procedural barriers that disproportionately affect the ability of small businesses to compete for Federal contracts, with a focus on streamlining documentation and qualification requirements unrelated to the protection of privacy and civil liberties.(2)

Consultation

The Council shall obtain input from the public, including from the APEX Accelerators program (formerly known as Procurement Technical Assistance Center network) and other contractor representatives, to identify Federal procurement policies and regulations that are obsolete, overly burdensome or restrictive, not adequately harmonized, or otherwise serve to create barriers to small business participation in Federal contracting or unnecessarily increase bid and proposal costs.(3)

Examination of actions

The Council shall consider the input obtained under paragraph (2) and any other information determined to be relevant by the Council to identify legislative, regulatory, and other actions to increase competition and remove barriers to small business participation in the procurement process.(4)

Implementation

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and other executive agencies as appropriate, shall implement the regulatory and other non-legislative actions identified under paragraph (3), as determined necessary by the Administrator, to remove barriers to entry for small businesses seeking to participate in Federal Government procurement.(5)

Briefing

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the relevant committees of Congress on the legislative actions identified under paragraph (3), and the actions implemented under paragraph (4).(c)

Consideration of cost-Efficiency and quality

The Administrator shall advocate for and prioritize contracting policies that ensure that cost-efficiency and quality of goods and services are key determining factors in awarding Federal contracts.

Comptroller general assessment of small business participation in Federal procurement

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress and make publicly available a report that—(1)assesses the current level of small business participation in Federal procurement, identifying barriers, opportunities, and the impact of existing policies on the ability of small businesses to compete in Federal procurement;(2)catalogs and evaluates the effectiveness of programs intended to support small business participation in Federal procurement; and(3)analyzes trends in small business involvement in Federal technology projects, including data on contract awards, the diversity of sectors represented, and the geographic distribution of small business contractors.

Conflict of interest procedures

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Administrator shall update the Federal Acquisition Regulation as necessary to provide additional guidance to executive agencies to address personal and organizational conflicts of interest involving members of the acquisition workforce.

No additional funding

No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.