Congress has extended authorization for SBA programs until July 31. Neither house passed a long-term reauthorization bill last year. The chairs of both houses’ Small Business Committees have said they will hold hearings this spring.

GSA announced the Veterans Technology Services govern-mentwide acquisition contract is accepting task orders. The VETS contract is set aside for service-disabled veteran owned businesses. Contracts were awarded to 43 IT firms in October and GSA said it issued notices to proceed to those companies February 16.

“This vitally important step signifies the VETS contract is ready for task orders to be placed,” GSA Administrator Lurita Doan said. The agency plans outreach events and training for contracting officers on how to use the GWAC.

The Office of Management and Budget is asking for public comment on the planned FederalSpending.gov website that will allow searches of contract and grant spending.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act passed by Congress last year requires the database to be open to the public by January. OMB has launched a temporary site to receive comments on how it should work.

The federal IT outsourcing market is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 5.9% over the next five years, according to an analysis by the market research firm Input.

The report emphasizes a continued shift away from a government-owned, government-operated model toward a contractor-owned, contractor-operated approach. Input says this shift is fueled by the impending federal IT workforce shortage, war in Iraq, and federal contract spending slowdown, already in motion before the passage of recent continuing resolutions.

“By the end of the forecasting period, agencies will have switched to a wholesale preference for smaller outsourcing contracts or multi-sourcing contract arrangements,” said Input senor market analyst Trina Dinavo. “This could be viewed as a total about-face when considering the recent trend in favor of the outsourcing mega-deal.”