More Competition Is Sought Civilian and military procurement officials are urging government buyers to increase the use of competition in contracting. Federal agencies competed 64% of their contract dollars in fiscal 2007, according to Paul Denett, head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. That figure has held relatively steady for the past decade. Meanwhile, a defense department advisory panel warned of excessive use of sole source contracts without proper justification. Denett said agencies should do better. In a July 18 memo, he asked the Chief Acquisition Officers Council to create a competition working group to share ideas and best practices. He said the group should analyze trends throughout the government to determine which goods and services are most likely to be purchased without competition. “We need to do more to promote the appropriate use of tools and effective practices to improve and increase the use of competition,” he wrote. He said agencies should pay particular attention to competition under task and delivery order contracts. Agencies vary widely in their use of competition. The Energy Department competed 85% of its dollars, compared with 49% for NASA and 39% for Veterans Affairs. Some agencies have created award programs to recognize employee contributions to improving competition. Denett has established a governmentwide program, the Shine Initiative, to honor excellence in contracting. Defense Competition Questioned Some Defense Department contracting officers are circumventing requirements for competition on orders through GSA schedules and other multiple award contracts, according to an advisory panel. Shay Assad, DOD’s procurement policy chief, said the findings were among several problems raised by the Panel on Contracting Integrity. Congress created the panel last year to monitor potential waste, fraud and abuse. In a memo, Assad said the panel found competition requirements “are frequently waived without adequate documentation justifying the waiver.” DOD buyers are generally required to get at least three bids on task orders. Other problems noted by the panel include: *Lack of documentation supporting determination of a commercial item. *Contract actions are not definitized within required time frames and lack documentation supporting the basis for the profit/fee negotated. *Failure to use available pricing information or adequately document fair and reasonable price determinations for sole source awards. Assad directed contracting offices to review the vulnerabilities.