[House Report 115-246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-246
======================================================================
VA PROCUREMENT EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT
_______
July 24, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Roe of Tennessee, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2006]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2006) to amend title 38, United States Code, to
improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that
the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Subcommittee Consideration....................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 3
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 4
Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits............................. 4
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 4
Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................. 4
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 5
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 5
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 5
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 5
Statement on Duplication of Federal Programs..................... 5
Disclosure of Directed Rulemaking................................ 5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 6
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported............. 6
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 2006, the ``VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency
Act,'' was introduced by Representative Mike Coffman of
Colorado on April 6, 2017. This bill would improve procurement
within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by putting in
place consistent parameters for VA to measure its cost savings
from competition and encouraging VA to organize its templates
for key procurement documents and share them across the
organization.
Background and Need for Legislation
VA currently calculates cost savings achieved by
competitive contracting in an inconsistent manner. Cost savings
information is recorded for some contracts but not others. Cost
savings information is recorded by some procurement offices but
not others. There is no consistent standard for how the savings
must be calculated, leading to divergent methods and misleading
information. There is no central repository for the
information, causing the picture of the magnitude of
competition to be incomplete. Hence, when VA reports savings
generated by competition, the information is unreliable and
often selective. While there is no legal or regulatory
requirement for federal agencies to measure and record such
savings, other agencies have found it to be beneficial and
opted to do it. Reporting aggregated competitive cost savings
would indicate the effects of changing business conditions and
contracting strategies used by the Department.
Additionally, all government contracting relies heavily on
templates for documents, such as statements of work, terms and
conditions, clauses, and evaluation criteria. These documents,
collectively, make up the contract. Government contract
specialists tailor the templates to specific situations. Many
agencies have instituted central, organized repositories of
such templates, usually on the procurement organizations'
intranet websites. VA has no template repository. VA has
designated its contract writing software's database as the
official place of record in which awarded contracts' files are
stored (rather than the old method of maintaining physical
contract files). Thus, contract documents are stored in
electronic formats. Contract specialists are able to browse
through the database, retrieve documents, and edit and reuse
them to produce new contracts. This is significantly less
efficient than utilizing a central organized repository of
templates, because it requires the contract specialist to hunt
for a previous contract that is similar to what is desired and
rewrite the document more than would be necessary when using a
template. Instituting a template repository would also help VA
standardize practices among the many offices that make up its
heterogeneous procurement organization.
Hearings
There were no full Committee hearings held on H.R. 2006.
On June 29, 2017, the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations conducted a legislative hearing on: H.R. 2006,
H.R. 2749, H.R. 2781, and a draft bill to improve the hiring,
training, and efficiency of acquisition personnel and
organizations of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for
other purposes (now H.R. 3169).
The following witnesses testified:
The Honorable Jack Bergman of Michigan; the Honorable
Ann McLane Kuster of New Hampshire; the Honorable Mike
Coffman of Colorado; the Honorable Neal Dunn of
Florida; the Honorable Jimmy Panetta of California; the
Honorable Bruce Poliquin of Maine; Mr. Thomas Burgess,
Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of
Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Department of
Veterans Affairs; Mr. Thomas Leney Executive Director,
Small and Veteran Business Programs, Office of Small
and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Department of
Veterans Affairs; Ms. Kaitlin Gray, Assistant Director,
National Veterans Employment and Education Division,
The American Legion; Mr. Patrick Murray, Associate
Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States; and Mr. Wayne
Simpson, Member, National Veterans Small Business
Coalition.
A statement for the record was submitted by:
The Associated General Contractors of America.
Subcommittee Consideration
On July 12, 2017, the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations met in open markup session, a quorum being
present, and ordered H.R. 2006 reported favorably to the full
Committee. A motion by Representative Ann McLane Kuster of New
Hampshire to report H.R. 2006 favorably to the House of
Representatives was agreed to by voice vote.
Committee Consideration
On July 19, 2017, the full Committee met in open markup
session, a quorum being present, and ordered H.R. 2006 reported
favorably to the House of Representatives by voice vote. A
motion by Representative Tim Walz of Minnesota to report H.R.
2006 favorably to the House of Representatives was agreed to by
voice vote.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, no recorded votes were taken on
amendments or in connection with ordering H.R. 2006, reported
to the House.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goals and objectives are to improve transparency and efficiency
in VA procurement by standardizing its measurement of cost
savings from competition and ensuring its templates for key
procurement documents are organized and shared across VA.
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits
H.R. 2006 does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
Committee Cost Estimate
The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate on H.R.
2006 prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate
for H.R. 2006 provided by the Congressional Budget Office
pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 21, 2017.
Hon. Phil Roe, MD,
Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2006, the VA
Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Dwayne M.
Wright.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Hadley
(For Keith Hall).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2006--VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act
H.R. 2006 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) to calculate and record any cost savings realized from
using competitive procedures for contracts awarded by the
department. H.R. 2006 also would require VA to develop and use
standard procurement templates across the department, where
applicable.
On the basis of information from VA, CBO expects that the
requirement to both calculate and record cost savings could be
implemented without increasing VA's staffing levels.
Additionally, according to VA, the agency currently attempts to
standardize the procurement process to the extent possible, so
developing standard procurement templates for contracts would
not require a significant departure from current practice.
Therefore, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2006 would cost
less than $500,000 over the 2017-2022 period, subject to the
availability of appropriations.
Enacting H.R. 2006 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2006 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2006 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Dwayne M.
Wright. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Federal Mandates Statement
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates regarding H.R. 2006, prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
Advisory Committee Statement
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act would be created by H.R.
2006.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to Article I, section 8 of the United States
Constitution, H.R. 2006 is authorized by Congress' power to
``provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the
United States.''
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that H.R. 2006 does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services
or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of
the Congressional Accountability Act.
Statement on Duplication of Federal Programs
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that no provision
of H.R. 2006 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the
Federal Government known to be duplicative of another Federal
program, a program that was included in any report from the
Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to
section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a
program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rulemaking
Pursuant to section 3(i) of H. Res. 5, 115th Cong. (2017),
H.R. 2006 contains no directed rule making that would require
the Secretary to prescribe regulations.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 cites the short title of H.R. 2006, to be the
``VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act.''
Section 2. Information on cost or price savings from competition
Section 2(a) would amend chapter 81 of title 38, U.S.C., by
inserting a new section 8129 entitled, ``Information on cost or
price savings from competition.''
Section 8129(a) would require VA to record information on
cost or price savings realized by competitive procedures
involving any VA contract awarded that is reported in the
Federal Procurement Data System or any successor system.
Section 8129(b) would require VA to place the information
recorded under subsection (a) in the Electronic Contract
Management System, or any successor system, if the contract was
recorded in that system. If the contract was not recorded in
that system, the Secretary must determine an appropriate
location to record the information.
Section 8129(c) would require VA to calculate the cost or
price savings from subsection (a) by: (A) subtracting the total
value of the selected offer or quote from the average of the
total values of all offers or quotes evaluated; or (B)
subtracting the total value of the selected offer or quote from
the total value of the median offer or quote evaluated. If the
difference calculated is negative, VA would be required to
record that amount as zero. Section 8129(c) would also require
the Secretary to make the calculation required under this
subsection at the time when funds are obligated under the
contract or at the time when an option is exercised, if
appropriate.
Section 2(b) would provide a clerical amendment.
Section 3. Use of standardized procurement templates
Section 3 would require the Secretary to make available and
use standardized procurement templates across the department to
the extent practicable. The Secretary would be able to
customize templates to address specific procurement situations.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART VI--ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 81--ACQUISITION AND OPERATION OF HOSPITAL AND DOMICILIARY
FACILITIES; PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY; ENHANCED-USE LEASES OF REAL
PROPERTY
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER I--ACQUISITION AND OPERATION OF MEDICAL FACILITIES
Sec.
8101. Definitions.
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER II--PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY
* * * * * * *
8129. Information on cost or price savings from competition.
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER II--PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY
* * * * * * *
Sec. 8129. Information on cost or price savings from competition
(a) Recording of Information.--With respect to any contract
awarded by the Secretary that is reported in the Federal
Procurement Data System described in section 1122(a)(4)(A) of
title 41, United States Code, or any successor system, the
Secretary shall record information on the amount of any cost or
price savings realized by using competitive procedures in
awarding such contract.
(b) Placement of Records.--The Secretary shall place recorded
information under subsection (a) as follows:
(1) With respect to contracts recorded in the
Electronic Contract Management System, or any successor
system, in such system.
(2) With respect to contracts not covered by
paragraph (1), in a location determined appropriate by
the Secretary.
(c) Calculation of Cost Savings.--(1) In carrying out
subsection (a), the Secretary shall calculate the amount of
cost or price savings realized by using competitive procedures
in awarding a contract by--
(A) subtracting the total value of the selected offer
or quote from the average of the total values of all
offers or quotes evaluated; or
(B) subtracting the total value of the selected offer
or quote from the total value of the median offer or
quote evaluated.
(2) If the difference calculated pursuant to paragraph (1) is
negative, the Secretary shall record such difference as zero.
(3) The Secretary shall make calculations under paragraph (1)
with respect to a contract--
(A) at the time at which the Secretary obligates
amounts under such contract; or
(B) if such contract contains options, at the time at
which the option is exercised.
* * * * * * *
[all]