| PSC Welcomes New Action on Procurement Administrative Lead Times |
| The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Takes Steps to Implement Congressional Mandate to Track Procurement Timeframes Across Federal Agencies |
Arlington, Va. (Jan. 23, 2020) The Professional Services Council (PSC) applauded action by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) to begin addressing the lengthy and costly Procurement Administrative Lead Times (PALT) at all federal agencies. OFPP’s Jan. 21, 2020, request for public comment will begin government-wide implementation of a PSC-originated initiative to define, track and publicly report PALT, with the goal of improving the acquisition process and delivering solutions to users more quickly.
“Reducing the timeframes associated with the contracting process is in the best interest of the government, the contractor community, and the taxpayer,” said Alan Chvotkin, PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel. “Evidence suggested that PALT is increasing in length at many federal agencies and the insight gained from this tracking and reporting will ensure that efforts to reduce acquisition cycle times are focused on widespread challenges, and are not limited to specific problems with a particular contract, type of purchase, or buying activity.”
PSC worked with Congressman Gerry Connolly, who authored the amendments, and other members of Congress, to secure enactment of a provision in the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (Sec. 886 of P.L. 115-91) that would require DoD to define, track and publicly report PALT. DoD has already begun significant work. In the FY19 NDAA, PSC
successfully worked to expand this initiative government-wide (Sec. 878 of P.L. 115-232).
Given the need to modify the Federal Procurement Data System to accommodate PALT tracking, PSC has
urged OFPP and DoD to work together to ensure that these requirements are consistent across the board. All agencies would benefit from a standardized format for collecting and reporting this data.
“PSC intends to comment on the public notice and to work with OFPP and other agencies on an early implementation,” Chvotkin continued. “We will also continue to urge the government to move faster on these and other regulations where they remain significantly behind Congressionally-mandated timelines. The government must move faster to keep pace with legislation and users’ needs.”
About PSC: PSC is the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s more than 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states. Follow PSC on Twitter
@PSCSpeaks. To learn more, visit
www.pscouncil.org.