Democrats' "Wish List" Faces Industry Opposition With Democrats taking control of Congress in January, a leading contractor group said the party’s proposed changes in procurement law would be “chilling” for industry. The Coalition for Government Procurement said the Democrats’ Clean Contracting Act, H.R. 6069, “represent(s) a proposed ‘wish list’ for those who would re-regulate virtually every part of government contracting life.” A group of Democrats calling themselves the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Truth Squad is backing the bill. The prime sponsor, California Congressman Henry Waxman, will become chairman of the Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over procurement. In introducing the legislation in September, the Democrats said, “The bill would end the abusive contracting practices that have been rampant under the Bush administration and promote greater transparency and accountability in government contracting.” (SAA, 9/29) In its November newsletter, the Coalition for Government Procurement took issue with key provisions of the bill. *The Clean Contracting Act would require agencies to seek bids on GSA schedule orders from “as many contractors as practicable.” It essentially adopts the Defense Department’s so-called Section 803 rule that requires contracting officers to get at least three bids or justify why they did not. If the provision is adopted, the Coalition said, “Buying from schedules would be similar to making an open market purchase in terms of extended procurement lead times, longer evaluations, and, inevitably, increased protests.” *The bill prohibits a prime contractor from subcontracting more than 65% of the work. The Coalition said that provision would hit hardest at small businesses, who make up the bulk of subcontractors: “Setting an arbitrary statutory limit could harm some of these firms and drive up prices to the government.” *One section of the bill, “Enforcement Through Bid Protest,” would broaden protest rights. But the Coalition called it a “Contract Attorneys Full Employment Act” that would mean “procurements could be stopped dead.” *The bill would reinstate what industry called the “contractor blacklisting” rule issued by the Clinton administration, but repealed by the Bush administration. It would prohibit contract awards to any company that had violated labor, tax or environmental laws or that owed a delinquent debt to the government. The Coalition argued that contracting officers are not trained to interpret laws that have no relation to procurement. In addition, the Clean Contracting Act would repeal the authority for sole source contracts to Alaska Native Corporations. ANCs can now be awarded contracts in any amount without competitive bids under the 8(a) program, and some of them are among the largest contractors classified as small businesses. The bill would direct agencies to minimize the use of sole source contracts and to publish a “justification and approval” explaining why a requirement was not competed. No hearing has been held on the bill, but Waxman could schedule one next year.