2017 SLA Conference - Government Contracting - King
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•104 views
This document provides an overview of government contracting for librarians. It discusses why governments contract work out to private businesses, the federal budget process, and the key steps in the acquisitions process including planning, soliciting bids, evaluating proposals, awarding contracts, and contract administration. It also covers important laws like the Antideficiency Act to prevent overspending, and ethics requirements to avoid conflicts of interest. The goal is to educate librarians on the basics of the government contracting system and their potential roles in the process.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to 2017 SLA Conference - Government Contracting - King
Similar to 2017 SLA Conference - Government Contracting - King (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
2017 SLA Conference - Government Contracting - King
- 1. Government Contracting for Librarians James King June 19, 2017
- 5. • Government can’t do everything • Government wants to foster business growth, especially small businesses • Government wants to encourage competition to get best value Why Contract? 5
- 6. 6 Federal Budget Process 101 – AKA, How do we get money?
- 7. Federal Budget Process 101 7 Guide to the Federal Budget Process – Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- srv/special/politics/federal-budget- process/budgetprocess.pdf
- 8. Step 1 - Budget Resolution 8
- 9. Step 2 - Appropriations 9
- 10. 12 Subcommittees • Agriculture • Commerce/Justice/Scien ce • Defense • Energy and Water • Financial Services • Homeland Security • Interior and Environment • Labor/HHS/Education • Legislative Branch • Military/Veterans • State/Foreign Operations • Transportation/HUD 10
- 11. Step 3 - Reconciliation 11
- 12. 12 Contracting
- 13. What is a Contract? A mutually-binding legal relationship obligating the “seller” (contractor) to furnish supplies or services and the “buyer” (Government) to pay for them. Contract Types: • Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) – Contractor guarantees performance of the contracted work as a condition for being paid. • Cost Reimbursement (CR) – The contractor is paid up to a ceiling for all allowable costs. The contractor must put forth its best efforts in performing all work under the contract. • IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) – The government’s quantity is unknown at time of award. 13
- 15. Market Research • RFI (Request for Information) - the Government wants to gather information on current capabilities within the market. • Sources Sought Notice - the Government wants to identify potential sources to provide the potential requirement. • Draft RFP (Request for Proposals) - the Government wants to provide what an expected RFP would look like on a potential requirement, and receive feedback from industry. (rarely used) 15
- 16. Acquisitions Strategy 16 Acquisition Method Purchase Range Requirements Simplified Acquisitions, Micro Purchase $0-$25,000 Credit card up to $3,500, 3 fair and reasonable quotes or qualified supplier, RFQ (Request for Quote), 90% of all contracting, commonly commercial items Simplified Acquisitions, higher $25,000-$150,000 RFP, Acquisitions Plan (including SOW, ICGE, special requirements, market research on small business arena), posted on FedBizOpps, Small Business evaluation, JOFOC (if required) Commercial Items/GWAC $3,500-$7M RFQ, Acquisitions Plan, fair and reasonable quotes Major Contracts >$150,000 RFP, Acquisitions Plan, Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP), fair and reasonable quotes
- 17. GWAC Vehicles • GSA Schedule 70 – https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/ • NASA SEWP – https://www.sewp.nasa.gov/ • NITAAC – https://nitaac.nih.gov/ • FEDLINK* – https://www.loc.gov/flicc/ 17
- 18. Acquisition Relationship COR (Customer) Contractor (Private Sector) CO (Actual Authority) The CO and the Contractor serve the COR The COR determines the need and the requirements 18
- 19. Roles Defined Contracting Officer (CO) • Federal employee with the education, certification levels, and experience to become a CO • The Senior Procurement Executive appoints Contracting Officers • CO has actual authority to bind the Government into contracts Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) • Federal employee responsible for the technical direction of the contract (PO/COR/COTR) • Writes the SOW, expert in the product or service being procured • Cannot award or modify contracts, works closely with CO • Reviews invoices and output of contractor • Monitors cost, schedule, & performance 19
- 20. 1 Determine a Need • Identify service/product desired 2 Assemble Acquisition Team • COR, CO, CS, AO, OGC, program team 3 Draft Statement of Work • Salient Characteristics • Deliverables • Delivery Schedule • Special Requirements, • Mandatory & Standard Evaluation Criteria • Technical Proposal Instructions 4 Develop an Acquisition Plan (AP) • Identify Sources • Conduct Market Research • Construct IGCE • Availability of Commercial Item • Competition Method (RFP) • Select contract type (FP/CR) • Select TEP members • Other issues (warranty/options) 5 Meet with Acquisition Team to review Draft SOW & Draft AP • Make corrections 6 Finalize SOW & Acquisition Plan 7 Present Final SOW and Final AP to the Contracting Officer Phases of Acquisition Process 1 Draft and Post Final Synopsis • FedBizOpps.gov 2 CO drafts and finalizes RFP for internal review 3 Post Solicitation/RFP (request for proposal) • FedBizOpps.gov 4 Answer Questions submitted by Potential Offerors 5 All Communication goes through the Contracting Officer 6 Amend solicitation/RFP 7 Receive & Record Proposals 8 Distribute Proposals to TEP Team 9 CO reviews business proposals and begins cost and price analysis 10 Hold TEP • Score Proposals to evaluation criteria • Develop technical score • Vote acceptable/Unacceptable • TEP report to CO 11 Determine Competitive Range 12 Submit Questions to Offerors in Competitive Range. Notify those excluded. May conduct debriefings. 13 Review Answers to Questions 14 Negotiate, win-win solution 15 Might need a revised proposal 16 Request and Receive Final Proposal Revisions (FPR) 17 Make a Source Selection 18 Award Contract 1 Copy of Contract to Contracting Officer Representative (COR) • Highlight PO duties 2 Post Award Kick-Off Meeting 3 Read & Review Monthly Progress Reports 4 Inspect and Accept Product or Service 5 COR reports issues/concerns/problems to Contracting Officer 6 Execute Contract Modifications • Unilateral or Bilateral • Exercise options 7 Review & Approve Invoices 8 Maintain Deliverables of Contractor 9 Perform Site-visits to Contractor 10 Perform Annual Evaluation of Contractor’s Performance 11 Assist in Contract Closeout * On average Contracts have a period of performance of 5 years * Some have 1 base year + up to 4 option years (could have between 2–5 years total) Acquisition Planning RFP/Solicitation Contract Administration 20
- 21. 21 Antideficiency Act & Ethics -AKA, how to not go to jail
- 22. Antideficiency Act Defined The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal employees from: • making or authorizing an expenditure from, or creating or authorizing an obligation under, any appropriation or fund in excess of the amount available in the appropriation or fund unless authorized by law. 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)(A). • involving the government in any obligation to pay money before funds have been appropriated for that purpose, unless otherwise allowed by law. 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)(B). • accepting voluntary services for the United States, or employing personal services not authorized by law, except in cases of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. 31 U.S.C. § 1342. • making obligations or expenditures in excess of an apportionment or reapportionment, or in excess of the amount permitted by agency regulations. 31 U.S.C. § 1517(a). http://www.gao.gov/legal/anti-deficiency-act/about 22
- 23. Antideficiency Act Penalties Federal employees who violate the Antideficiency Act are subject to two types of sanctions: administrative and penal. Employees may be subject to appropriate administrative discipline including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or removal from office. In addition, employees may also be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both. 23
- 24. Ratification/Unauthorized Commitment A ratification is the proper authorization by a contracting officer of an earlier procurement by a Government employee who was not authorized to do it. A ratification package has a legal memo that says an unauthorized commitment was made, that the commitment could properly have been done by contracting officers, and that funds were and are available for it. This includes authorizing a change to a contract without contracting office approval. FAR 1.602-3 (Ratification of Unauthorized Commitment) 24
- 25. Applicable Ethics Laws Procurement Integrity Act (41 U.S.C. 423) includes any person who is personally and substantially involved in an agency acquisitions. Corruption of a Public Official (18 U.S.C 201(c)) prohibits Executive Branch staff from soliciting or accepting gifts from prohibited sources. Conflict of Interest (18 U.S.C. 202-209) requires Executive Staff to act without partiality and require financial disclosures and “reasonable person” conflict of interest notifications. 25
- 26. Thanks to the NIH Office of Logistics and Acquisitions Operations (OLAO) for providing many of the slides, as well as regular advice, support, and training used in today’s presentations 26
Editor's Notes
- By engaging in advance acquisition planning and employing clear, precise language to describe your needs, you can streamline the time and effort needed to fulfill your needs through contract. This session provides an overview of the acquisitions process for information resources in federal government agencies. It will also include a vision for successfully engaging contractors, focusing on the means necessary to bring that about. The presentation will address key concepts in competition and negotiation. It will also identify practical tools for contract performance monitoring and oversight to help information professionals navigate the notoriously rocky slopes of federal acquisitions.
- Thanks for joining me. To help set the stage, I’m going to run a quick poll of your experience level, using Poll Everywhere so please break out your smartphone, tablet or laptop and go to pollev.com/nihl
- What is your primary role in government contracting? https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/8HSeK5cxNtKRIeB
- Why do we need to even do contracting?
- 5
- I found this wonderful summary of the budget process that I thought would provide a great summary of how Federal agencies get there money. It is also useful for understanding current events. Let me quickly walk through the process.
- Remember, with the separation of powers, the Executive Branch (President) has the duty to implement laws but it is Congress that has the power to create laws and fund them. The “power of the purse string” gives them the ability to influence the Executive Branch and to specifically ensure that certain items are implemented in their district (ear marks). The process starts with setting the budget and starts with the President submitting his budget, ideally on the first Monday in February. On election years, like this year, the actual submission has been delayed. Note that roughly a third of the budget is called discretionary and means that Congress has an active role in setting the budget amounts. The remaining part of the budget are mandatory programs including social security, Medicare, and Medicaid that have authority to spend at whatever levels they need, based upon participation. The budget sets the top line numbers and provides high level guidance to the next group of approvals – the appropriators.
- Focusing on the discretionary part of the budget, when working through “regular order” will convene 12 subcommittees that hold hearings and meet with Executive Branch leaders to evaluate their requests and determine what should be funded for the coming year. This needs to be completed by September 30th to avoid a lack of funding. Not having appropriations means that the Executive Branch functions do not have the funding to continue operating, or a government shutdown.
- Here are the 12 subcommittees. Over half of the discretionary budget is devoted to defense.
- Reconciliation is the final step in the process – if the spending bills passed by the House and the Senate do not agree, a conference committee is formed to work out the differences and that final bill is quickly voted on by both chambers before being presented to the President for signature.
- Process Plan – most important piece – need to determine the need, strategy, do market research, write up SOW, develop acquisition strategy, and evaluation criteria Solicit – formally put request on the street Evaluate – objectively evaluate offers Award – choose winner based upon criteria and proposals Administer – monitor cost, schedule, and performance
- 15
- In addition to understanding what you want to purchase, you also need to determine which path to take with acquisitions. Part of this decision depends upon the dollar amount of the contract and the other part is the complexity of the purchase. If you are purchasing commercial items like toilet paper or computers, there is sufficient competition in the industry and published pricing that you can simply purchase it on a GWAC (Government-Wide Acquisitions Contract) with little hassle. For more complex or specialized purchases, like website development, the type of contract will depend upon the dollar amount and scope.
- Government Wide Acquisitions Contracts streamline the process, collapsing the process from months to weeks. Meg will talk more about FEDLINK in a moment
- The Contracting Officer Representative or COR, the person responsible for identifying the need, writing the requirements, and monitoring the contract is the key player in this effort. They are supported by the Contracting Officer, the only person able to make changes or award contracts, and the contractor, the group providing the service.
- 19
- 20
- Now, some things to keep in mind so that you can avoid going to jail
- Being in charge of a contract is a weighty responsibility since you are the critical link in a contract. Note that the Antideficiency law calls out four things that are not allowed. [read them]. What happens if we violate them?
- Ratification is an attempt to clean up the mess created by an Antideficiency Act violation. Common ways that this can happen are continuing to use a contractor or support agreement even though the period of performance has lapsed, even if the paperwork is in process.
- Though the COR is on the hot seat for all of this, these rules also apply to others involved in the process, including those helping to: Drafting, reviewing or approving SOW Preparing selection criteria Evaluating bids or proposals Recommending or selecting sources for award Restricted from disclosing procurement information, negotiating for future employment, or accepting compensation for 1 year after contract.
- This was a summary of materials that often take 5 days to fully explore so I hope this was a valuable summary. I want to thank my contracting office for their help in providing some of the slides I’ve used and reviewing what I’ve pulled together to ensure I’m not saying the wrong things.