[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4055 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4055
To provide for a pilot program to improve contracting outcomes, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 22, 2024
Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for a pilot program to improve contracting outcomes, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Contracting Outcomes Act
of 2024''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and
the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Chief financial officer act agency.--The term ``Chief
Financial Officer Act Agency'' means an agency listed in
section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code.
(3) Cost avoidance.--The term ``cost avoidance'' refers
to--
(A) reductions in the need for increased funding if
present management practices continued;
(B) unfunded requirements that were avoided; and
(C) productivity gains, such as reduction in
required labor hours, reduction in contract
duplication, and use of shared contract programs.
(4) Cost savings.--The term ``cost savings'' means
reductions to budget lines or funded programs resulting from a
new policy, process, or activity with no adverse impact on
mission.
(5) End user.--The term ``end user'' means the internal
stakeholder that uses the product or service procured.
(6) Head of contracting activity.--The term ``head of
contracting activity'' has the meaning given the term ``head of
the contracting activity'' in section 2.101 of the Federal
Acquisition Regulation.
(7) Military department.--The term ``military department''
has the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(8) of title
10, United States Code.
(8) Multiple award contract.--The term ``multiple award
contract'' means--
(A) a contract that is entered into by the
Administrator of General Services under the multiple
award schedule program referred to in section 3012(3)
of title 10, United States Code; or
(B) a multiple award task order contract that is
entered into under the authority of title 10 or title
41, United States Code.
(9) Senior procurement executive.--The term ``senior
procurement executive'' has the meaning given the term in
section 1702(c) of title 41, United States Code.
(10) Transactional data.--The term ``transactional data''
refers to order details, including unit price, quantity, and
line item descriptions.
SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE CONTRACTING OUTCOMES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy
shall initiate a pilot program to improve contracting outcomes.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the pilot program is to identify and
assess innovative approaches for establishing and using outcome-
oriented contracting metrics, and the potential to establish and use
outcome-oriented contracting metrics at each Chief Financial Officer
Act Agency and military department.
(c) Key Elements.--The pilot program initiated pursuant to
subsection (a) shall--
(1) comprise no less than three Chief Financial Officer Act
Agencies, and at least one military department;
(2) span a period of two years;
(3) demonstrate how senior procurement executives can
establish quantitative outcome-oriented contracting metrics and
corresponding goals--
(A) expressed on an annual basis;
(B) for each Head of Contracting Activity; and
(C) representing, at a minimum--
(i) cost avoidance or cost savings;
(ii) timeliness of deliveries in terms of
end users' receipt of a product or the start of
a service;
(iii) quality of deliverables in terms of
end users' satisfaction with a delivered
product or provided service; and
(iv) end user satisfaction with the degree
and nature of collaboration between the end
user and the relevant procurement officials;
(4) illustrate how senior procurement executives can use
the quantitative outcome-oriented contracting metrics and goals
required under paragraph (3) to--
(A) assess the performance of procurement
organizations on an ongoing basis;
(B) identify and share leading practices that Heads
of Contracting Activity and other procurement officials
can use to achieve desired contracting outcomes;
(C) evaluate key factors affecting contracting
outcomes, including--
(i) collaboration with key stakeholders,
particularly requirements generators, pre- and
post-contract award; and
(ii) contractor performance; and
(5) assess the benefits and drawbacks of leveraging various
data sources when establishing and using the outcome-oriented
contracting metrics and goals required under paragraphs (3) and
(4), respectively, including, at a minimum--
(A) data stored in the Contractor Performance
Assessment Reporting System; and
(B) transactional data for orders against multiple
award contracts.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed as precluding senior procurement executives from establishing
or maintaining additional performance metrics and goals, in particular
metrics and goals for small business utilization.
SEC. 4. OFFICE OF FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POLICY REPORTING.
(a) Interim Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal
Procurement Policy shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees and the Comptroller General of the
United States an interim report on the pilot program required
under section 3.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the interim report shall be to
identify how each of the senior procurement executives
participating in the pilot program are meeting the requirements
under section 3(c).
(3) Key elements.--The interim report shall identify, at a
minimum--
(A) each quantitative outcome-oriented contracting
goal established pursuant to section 3(c)(3),
including--
(i) a precise definition that includes the
methodology and data used to measure actual
performance against the goal; and
(ii) the rationale for the goal;
(B) illustrative examples of how each senior
procurement executive has used quantitative outcome-
oriented contracting metrics and goals to identify and
share leading practices and key factors affecting
contracting outcomes pursuant to section 3(c)(4); and
(C) data improvement initiatives, informed by the
assessment required under section 3(c)(5), including a
plan of action and milestones to improve the
reliability of relevant data, including at a minimum--
(i) data stored in the Contractor
Performance Assessment Reporting System; and
(ii) transactional data for orders against
multiple award contracts.
(b) Final Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than three years after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Federal
Procurement Policy shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees and the Comptroller General of the
United States a final report on the pilot program required
under section 3.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the final report shall be to
identify how each of the senior procurement executives
participating in the pilot program met the requirements under
section 3(c), and assess the potential to establish and use
outcome-oriented contracting metrics and goals at each Chief
Financial Officer Act Agency and military department in the
future.
(3) Key elements.--The final report shall identify, at a
minimum--
(A) any modifications to the outcome-oriented
metrics and goals established pursuant to section
3(c)(3) since the issuance of the interim report
required under subsection (a), including--
(i) modifications to the definitions for
the metrics and goals; and
(ii) the rationale for any modifications;
(B) examples of how each senior procurement
executive has used outcome-oriented contracting metrics
and goals to identify and share leading practices and
key factors affecting contracting outcomes pursuant to
section 3(c)(4) during the preceding year;
(C) a description of progress against the plan of
action and milestones required under subsection
(a)(3)(C), including qualitative descriptions of
significant challenges and limitations hindering data
improvement efforts; and
(D) observations from the Administrator for Federal
Procurement Policy regarding the respective advantages
and disadvantages of various approaches for
establishing and using outcome-oriented contracting
metrics and goals.
SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORTING.
Not later than 180 days after receiving the interim and final
reports required under section 4, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall provide the Comptroller General's independent observations
on the report to the appropriate congressional committees.
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