[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4055 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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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