The Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act and Circular A-76 PDF Download

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Category : Administrative agencies
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Reform. Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
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Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Because Circular A-76 is a precursor to FAIR, the report begins with a review of the origins of Circular A-76, a description of the circular's components and related issues, and a discussion of its implementation. [...] According to the Commission on Government Procurement, the Commissions on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government, in both the 1949 report (First Hoover Commission) and 1955 report (Second Hoover Commission), addressed the issue of competition between the government and private businesses.8 The Second Hoover Commission developed 22 recommendations aimed at moderating government competit [...] Government policymakers' interest in reducing competition between government and the private sector might have been tempered somewhat, in the years following the issuance of the three Bureau of the Budget bulletins, by contracting- related problems or issues that surfaced in the 1960s. [...] In recognition of this principle, it has been and continues to be the general policy of the Government to rely on commercial sources to supply the products and services the Government needs.16 Arguably, the policy statement found in the 2003 revision retained the basic thrust of earlier policy statements, but is worded differently. [...] To ensure that the American people receive maximum value for their tax dollars, commercial activities should be subject to the forces of competition.17 As of 1979, the circular also stated that it is the policy of the federal government to retain governmental functions in-house and to consider comparative costs.18 In discussing this proposed revision, an entry in the Federal Register in 1978 state.

Author: Congressional Research Service: The Libr
Publisher: BiblioGov
ISBN: 9781293021217
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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The Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (FAIR) (P.L. 105-270) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 are intertwined. Given the Bush Administration's emphasis on competitive sourcing, which is one of the elements of the President's Management Agenda, Congress may wish to revisit FAIR and Circular A-76. FAIR is, in some respects, an extension of Circular A-76, and it was implemented through a 1999 revision to the circular. FAIR levies a statutory requirement on agencies to provide inventories of commercial activities, provides a challenge and appeal process, and statutorily defines "inherently governmental" activities (i.e., functions unsuitable for contracting out). FAIR does not require agencies to compete or convert directly any of the activities listed on their inventories. Although the initial implementation of FAIR was successful with regard to compiling annual inventories, it revealed areas needing improvement. OMB responded, in 2000, 2002, and 2003, with additional guidance. Initially issued in 1966, OMB Circular A-76 rests on a policy of subjecting commercial activities to public-private competition. Circular A-76 requires agencies to submit annual inventories of their commercial activities and inherently governmental activities to the federal budget agency and provides guidance for agencies to use in determining whether to "make ...

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
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ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Author: Valerie Bailey Grasso
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Category : Contracting out
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Author: Valerie Bailey Grasso
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Category : Contracting out
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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This report provides information on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-76, "Performance of Commercial Activities," and the impact of a related reform initiative, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) of 1998, within the Department of Defense. The Circular defines federal policy for determining whether recurring commercial activities should be outsourced to commercial sources, Governmental facilities, or through inter-service support agreements. The FAIR Act creates statutory reporting requirements for federal executive agencies, by requiring Federal executive agencies to identify activities "not inherently governmental" and consider outsourcing through managed competitions. However, FAIR does not require that agencies contract out these activities.

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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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This report provides information on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-76, "Performance of Commercial Activities," and the impact of a related reform initiative, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) of 1998, within the Department of Defense (DOD). The Circular defines federal policy for determining whether recurring commercial activities should be transferred to performance by the private sector, or performed by federal government employees. The FAIR Act creates statutory reporting requirements for federal executive agencies, by requiring federal executive agencies to identify activities both "inherently governmental" and those not inherently governmental, and to conduct managed competitions to determine who is best to perform the service. Competitive sourcing, through managed competitions, was a major initiative identified by the first Bush Administration's Presidential Management Agenda, and one of five governmentwide initiatives to improve the management and performance of the federal government. It is likely that competitive sourcing will continue to serve as a major initiative in the second Bush Administration. Despite the fact that DOD has substantially downsized its force structure after the end of the Cold War, operations and support cost have not been proportionately reduced. In order to achieve greater reductions, and as part of its Defense Reform Initiative, DOD announced that 229,000 positions would be opened to managed competition; by FY2005, some 237,000 jobs. Historically, DOD has set the pace as the lead federal agency in using OMB Circular A-76 cost comparison studies as a tool for managing competition for federal contracts. The effectiveness of the OMB Circular A-76 policy has been the subject of rising debate. Some proponents view the policy as a catalyst for competition in the marketplace, and as the vehicle to increase efficiencies, lower costs and encourage technological advances. They argue that the government should stop providing some services, and not compete against its private citizens. Other proponents view the policy as an instrument for driving efficiencies. Some opponents view OMB Circular A-76 and the passage of FAIR as efforts to dismantle what has been traditionally viewed as the "proper role of government." They challenge the notion that the process will ultimately save money, by arguing that projections of costs savings have been overly optimistic. Others assert that besides resulting in the loss of thousands of federal jobs, FAIR may create new constituencies that could generate new pressures for the transfer of jobs from federal employees to the private sector. The degree to which managed competitions, throughout the federal government, increase efficiency and save money will likely depend on the extent to which federal agencies employ OMB Circular A-76 and the FAIR Act. Congress can exercise its oversight authority by (1) monitoring federal agency progress in the implementation of OMB Circular A-76 policy and FAIR (2) determining whether cost savings are real; and (3) granting federal agencies the authority to explore alternatives to achieve costs savings besides OMB Circular A-76.

Author: Congressional Research Congressional Research Service
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781505875515
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Functions that federal law and policy require to be performed by government personnel, not contractor employees, are known as "inherently governmental functions." Such functions have been a topic of interest in recent Congresses, in part, because of questions about sourcing policy (i.e., whether specific functions should be performed by government personnel or contractor employees). There have also been questions about the various definitions of inherently governmental function given in federal law and policy and, particularly, whether the existence of multiple definitions of this term may have resulted in contractor employees performing functions that should be performed by government personnel. Two primary definitions of inherently governmental function currently exist in federal law and policy. One is a statutory definition, enacted as part of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998. This definition states that an inherently governmental function is "a function so intimately related to the public interest as to require performance by Federal Government employees." The other is a policy-oriented definition contained in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76. This definition states that an inherently governmental activity is "an activity that is so intimately related to the public interest as to mandate performance by government personnel." These two definitions arguably do not differ significantly in and of themselves. However, both the FAIR Act and OMB Circular A-76 include further elaboration and expansion upon the meaning of inherently governmental function that differ in certain ways. Other statutes, regulations and guidance documents that define inherently governmental function do so either by reproducing the language of the FAIR Act or OMB Circular A-76, or by incorporating their definitions by reference. Most notably, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) incorporates by reference or otherwise adopts the definition of OMB Circular A-76, while Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Policy Letter 11-01, discussed below, adopts the FAIR Act's definition. However, like the FAIR Act and OMB Circular A-76, both the FAR and Policy Letter 11-01 also include some unique elaboration and expansion upon the term. In addition to these definitions, there are numerous statutory, regulatory, and policy provisions designating specific functions as inherently governmental or, alternatively, commercial. (A commercial function is one that could be performed by contractor employees, although there is generally no requirement that contractor employees perform commercial functions.) Such designations also help establish the meaning of inherently governmental function by specifying what is-and is not-included within this category. Similarly, while not offering their own definitions of inherently governmental function, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the federal courts have developed tests that they use in identifying specific functions as inherently governmental or commercial. However, a judicial declaration that a particular function is inherently governmental under a constitutional test would not necessarily preclude the executive branch from contracting out this function. The 110th Congress tasked OMB with reviewing existing definitions of inherently governmental function and developing a "single consistent definition" of this term. Partly in response to this charge, OMB, though the OFPP, issued Policy Letter 11-01. Policy Letter 11-01 adopts the FAIR Act's definition of inherently governmental function, rather than establishing a new definition. However, Policy Letter 11-01 does establish two tests for identifying inherently governmental functions, as well as defines a critical function as one "that is necessary to the agency being able to effectively perform and maintain control of its mission and operations."

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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 provides guidance for federal agencies on how to conduct public-private competitions. The outcome of a competition determines who â€" government agency or private business â€" will perform commercial activities. (A commercial activity is a service that could be performed by the private sector.) OMB Circular A-76 was issued initially in 1966; the Circular No. A-76 Revised Supplemental Handbook was first issued in 1979. The handbook provided guidance for implementing Circular A-76 policy and included procedures for conducting A-76 cost comparisons. In 1999, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-270) was incorporated into the circular and the handbook. The most recent A-76 revision, which was issued in 2003, is arguably the most significant change to the circular and its supplement in the documentâ€TMs history. The revision is one of several steps the Bush Administration has taken to further its competitive sourcing initiative, which is one of the components of the Presidentâ€TMs Management Agenda (PMA). Other activities include the promotion of competitive sourcing goals and the requirement that agencies submit lists of their inherently governmental activities to OMB. (An inherently governmental activity is a function that is so intimately related to the public interest that it must be performed by federal government employees, according to OMBâ€TMs Circular No. A-76 (Revised), May 29, 2003, p. A-2.) Combining the circular and the Circular No. A-76 Revised Supplemental Handbook into one document, OMB modified the definition of “inherently governmental,â€ŗ established the concept of an agency tender (which is the governmentâ€TMs response to a solicitation), and eliminated the direct conversion option. Under this option, and as long as certain conditions were met, agencies were allowed to convert a function from in-house performance to private-sector performance without conducting a cost comparison. Several of the latest changes to Circular A-76 have generated a significant amount of interest. Requirements for the preparation of commercial activities and inherently governmental inventories have changed, and the latter inventories now are subject to challenge and appeal processes. The deadline for what are now called standard competitions has been shortened, with the expectation that agencies will complete a host of planning activities prior to beginning a competition. These and other changes have raised questions about the ability of agencies to comply with the revised circular and other competitive sourcing requirements. Possible implications for the civil service system and federal employees is another area that has garnered attention. This report will be updated if there are further changes to the circular or information about implementation of the circular becomes available.