Defense Authorization Means Procurement Changes President Bush has signed the 2008 Defense Authorization Act, which includes several significant procurement changes that were opposed by industry. When the law is implemented, it will place new restrictions on the use of time-and-materials contracts along with other measures aimed at improving contractor accountability. Some provisions of the act apply governmentwide: All eligible contractors must be given fair opportunity to compete for task and delivery orders above $5 million. Agencies must provide a clear statement of requirements and disclose the evaluation factors that will be used in making the award. Protests are permitted on task orders worth more than $10 million. Industry officials have warned that protests would drive up costs, especially for small companies. Agencies must publicly disclose the justification for sole source contracts. Other provisions of the law apply only to the Defense Department: Section 805 allows DOD to use T&M contracts for commercial services in support of a commercial item and for emergency repairs. But any other acquisition of commercial services on a T&M contract would have to be approved by the agency head. The restrictions on those contract types are less sweeping than the Senate version of the bill. Contracting officers may ask for pricing information on commercial services if the C.O. believes he does not have enough information to determine price reasonableness. President Bush signed the bill, H.R. 4986, on Jan. 28. He had returned an earlier version to Congress because he objected to a provision that would have made the Iraqi government liable for lawsuits brought by victims of the Saddam Hussein regime. That provision was removed from the final version passed by Congress last month.