Report: Growth of Bundled Contracts Continues Bundled contracts accounted for 54% of federal procurement dollars in fiscal 2002, an all-time high, according to an analysis by Eagle Eye Publishers. Those contracts totaled $132.5 billion. Eagle Eye has produced several studies of the issue for SBA’s Office of Advocacy, but it uses a definition of bundling that is more expansive than the government’s official definition. By law, a bundled contract is defined as a combination of two or more existing contracts into a single one that is too large or complex for a small business to handle. That definition leaves out any new requirements for which no prior contract has been issued. Under the official definition, Eagle Eye found less than 1% of contract dollars were bundled last year. Eagle Eye considers a bundled contract to be one that combines diverse tasks, such as by using multiple market classifications, multiple places of performance or multiple Type of Contract codes. In a report last year, Eagle Eye said bundling is common in indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts, modifications on those contracts, and in purchases through GSA Schedules. The Bush administration’s proposed anti-bundling strategy would require reviews of bundled task orders on GSA schedules and other multiple award contracts. Those vehicles are not covered under current regulations governing contract bundling or consolidation. The administration’s proposed rule, issued Jan. 31, would require agencies to prepare a written justification for any bundled contract above $7 million for the Defense Department; $5 million for NASA, the Department of Energy and GSA; and $2 million for all other agencies. For contracts above those thresholds, agencies would be required to identify “alternative strategies that would reduce or minimize the scope of the bundling, and the rationale for not choosing those alternatives,” the proposed rule says. Some comments on the proposed rule said the thresholds were too low, but some said they were too high. The Senate voted May 22 to lower the Defense Department threshold to $5 million. That provision is included in the Senate version of the Defense Authorization bill, which is now awaiting action by a joint House-Senate conference committee. Several other anti-bundling bills have also been introduced in Congress.