CSA COMMENDS GAO ON ACTION TO IMPLEMENT BID PROTEST STATUTE 

“I applaud GAO for stepping up to the plate to implement the bid protest language in the FY05 Defense Authorization Act,” said Chris Jahn, President of the Contract Services Association of America. “This action is faster than most agencies take in enacting the will of Congress. All parties involved are entitled to know what the rules of the game will be.”   Section 326 of the Defense Authorization conference report amends the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) to allow the Agency Tender Official (ATO) legal standing in a bid protest before the General Accountability Office (GAO) for public-private competitions involving more than 65 FTEs. The ATO could initiate the protest, or do so at the request of a majority of the affected employees (unless the ATO determines there is no basis to file a protest). The ATO must notify the Congress when such a determination is made. GAO issued a proposed rule to implement this section in December 2004, with comments due by February 18, 2005.  

In its comments CSA stated that “we have long supported balancing the rights and responsibilities of participants in the competitive sourcing process. The May 2003 revision to the Office of Management and Budget Circular (OMB) A-76 Circular puts the process for standard public-private competitions under the normal regulatory (FAR) process.”   CSA, however, consistently has opposed any attempts to grant individuals or their unions the ability to sue the Federal government regarding management decisions; such actions would be unprecedented. CSA has supported instead, under the right circumstances, allowing only Agency Tender Officials (ATO) the right to appeal an award to GAO, since the ATO is the individual responsible for the Government team’s offer.  

“GAO rightly did not address the streamlined competition process; under the Revised Circular, neither party (private or public sector) may file a protest – this is to ensure a true streamlined process that can be conducted in a timely matter,” CSA noted in its comments. “Furthermore, under the proposed rule, GAO specifically states that it will not review the decision by the ATO to file, or not file a protest – this is a decision that rightly should be left to the agency and not second-guessed by GAO, or even Congress.” 

A full copy of the CSA comments can be found on its website at www.csa-dc.org.

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CSA is the nation’s oldest and largest association of service contractors representing over 200 companies that provide a wide array of services to Federal, state, and local governments. CSA members do over $40 billion in Government contracts and employ nearly 500,000 workers, with two-thirds of those employees being members of private sector employee unions. CSA members represent the diversity of the government services industry and include small businesses, 8(a)-certified companies, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned, HubZone, Native American owned firms and global multi-billion dollar corporations. CSA promotes Excellence in Contracting by offering significant professional development opportunities for government contractors and government employees, including the only program manager certification program for service contractors. For more information on CSA, go to: www.csa-dc.org.