Leaving OMB, Styles Claims Successes, But Warns of Bias Against Small Business Stepping down after more than two years as the Bush administration’s procurement policy chief, Angela Styles says the attack on unnecessary contract bundling is “one of our great successes.” She said the president’s personal commitment on the issue, first stated in one of the 2000 campaign debates, assures that the effort is getting high level attention. “At the deputy secretary level, if not at the secretary level, in the departments and agencies, they have heard of the president’s interest,” she declared. “He wants smaller contracts. He wants a level playing field for small businesses to be able to compete.” Styles spoke at the annual meeting of Women Impacting Public Policy in Washington Sept. 15, her last day in office. She said final rules to implement the anti-bundling strategy should be issued within the next two weeks. The proposed rules, released 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. Agencies would be required to identify “alternative strategies” other than bundling and their reasons for not choosing those alternatives. For the first time, the bundling rules would cover GSA schedules and other multiple award contracts. A study by Eagle Eye Publishing for SBA’s Office of Advocacy found that those vehicles were driving the rapid growth in bundled contracts. Styles has repeatedly emphasized that the key to making the policy work is to hold high-level officials accountable. OMB has begun requiring agencies to file quarterly reports on their efforts to combat unnecessary bundling, although none of the reports has been made public. Critics of the initiative contend the administration is not providing the resources at lower levels to make things happen. The administration says agencies’ offices of small and disadvantaged business utilization will take on new responsibilities to monitor contract bundling, but it has proposed no increase in staff or budget for the OSDBUs. The initiative also depends on SBA procurement center representatives to monitor contracting activities, but there are only 47 of those representatives to cover 255 major contracting offices. The administration has declined to ask for money to hire additional ones. The House Small Business Committee has proposed taking the deputy directors of all SBA district offices and turning them into procurement center representatives. Styles announced she is leaving the administration to return to private law practice in Washington, but first she plans to take time off to be with her two preschool-age children. She joined the administration on Inauguration Day 2001 and was confirmed as administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy that May. Her deputy, Robert Burton, a career civil servant, was named interim administrator. In her farewell appearance, Styles warned of “a very negative culture toward small business” in the federal government. “Small businesses are getting the dregs of procurement. They’re getting the work that large businesses don’t want,” she said. “And I think there is a very strong perception that these (small) businesses are getting business they don’t deserve, these businesses are getting business they couldn’t receive through competition, they are doing inferior work.” During her tenure, Styles was most closely identified with President Bush’s competitive sourcing initiative. She oversaw a sweeping revision of OMB Circular A-76, which governs the competitions between government employees and contractors. She testified dozens of times before congressional committees, usually taking flak from members who accused the administration of unfairly threatening the jobs of federal employees. But even some union leaders who vehemently disagreed with the policy praised Styles for her openness in listening to their concerns. She will become a partner in the Washington law firm Miller & Chevalier, where she worked before joining the administration.