Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, released a draft copy of legislation he is preparing for sweeping changes to federal information technology procurement.

Issa is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and often a harsh critic of the administration.

The bill would require a single chief information officer per agency and would give those CIOs authority over IT spending and personnel.

It would create a Commodity IT Acquisition Center that would oversee large government-wide IT contracts. Agencies would be required to consult with the center on most acquisitions more than $500 million.

The bill also includes provisions supporting Obama administration initiatives for data center consolidation, cloud computing and strategic sourcing.

More information:
http://goo.gl/iZBHJ

More than 75% of the member firms recently surveyed by the Coalition for Government Procurement reported an increase in contract duplication in the last 12 months.

The coalition said it is distributing the survey results to agencies including OFPP, DoD, GSA, DHS and VA.

“Given our budgetary challenges, addressing unnecessary contract duplication is a vital, strategic imperative that the entire federal procurement community, government and industry, must address,” the coalition said.

The group suggests setting up a structure to include “Other Direct Costs” in task orders under GSA’s multiple awards schedule program, which it said would have a significant positive impact on reducing contract duplication.

NASA is getting ready to fund its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) initiatives.

The programs address technology gaps in NASA missions.

NASA has added seven select topics in SBIR, representing unique space technology development challenges the agency believes are well suited small businesses.

The deadline for the two program solicitations is Nov. 29.

For more information:
http://sbir.nasa.gov

The National Cancer Institute is preparing to award $10 million for its SBIR program for cancer therapeutics, cancer imaging technologies, in vivo diagnostics and other items.

Applications are due Nov. 6.

Priority will be given to applications considered likely to result in a commercial product or service, based on applicant’s ability to gain third-party investor funding.

For more information:
http://sbir.cancer.gov/funding/contracts/

EEO-1 and Vets-100/100A reports are due on Sept. 30.

The annual filing deadline for two important government-required reports applies to many employers and contractors.

Government contractors who employ 50 or more employees are required to file an annual EEO-1 report with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey/index.cfm.

Government contractors and subcontractors must file an annual VETS-100/100A report with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service of the Labor Department website at http://www.dol.gov/vets/vets100filing.htm.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, introduced legislation that would allow small businesses bequeathed to spouses and dependents by service members killed in action to be eligible for veteran preferences in government contracting.

The Veterans Small Business Protection Act of 2012, S. 3405 would “treat small businesses bequeathed to spouses and dependents by members of the Armed Forces killed in line of duty as small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs contracting goals and preferences, and for other purposes.”

The law, if approved, would apply to service members who owned at least 51% of a business and were killed during active duty. In those situations, assuming the surviving spouse or child acquires the ownership, the business would be treated as a service-disabled veteran-owned business.

The eligibility would end in 10 years, or when the surviving spouse remarries, or if the family members have less than 51% ownership.

The White House announced the nomination of Alan Estevez as the new principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

Estevez currently is the assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness.

The former principal deputy was Frank Kendall, who is now the undersecretary of defense for defense acquisition, technology, and logistics.

A subcommittee of the President’s Management Advisory Board recommended mandatory strategic sourcing at the September meeting, according to a report from GovWin.

The Strategic Sourcing Subcommittee advised that all-agency policy directives mandate the use of government-wide strategic sourcing vehicles where appropriate.

More information:
http://goo.gl/fVhtX