Industry Voices Support for Repeal of Blacklisting Rule

The Information Technology Association reaffirmed its support for repealing a controversial government contracting regulation today, the last day that comments could be submitted to the federal government.

ITAA endorsed the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council's proposed revoking of the Dec. 20, 2000, final rule addressing contractor responsibility. The FAR Council issues the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which sets the standards for government procurement.

The rule, which has been suspended under the Bush administration, required contracting officers to take into account bidders' compliance with labor, tax, employment, antitrust, environmental and consumer protection laws when determining if a company is a responsible business and therefore eligible to win contracts. The new rule would take the so-called blacklisting regulation off the books.

Supporters of the regulation, including organized labor, said it would protect the government from unscrupulous vendors. Opponents, including information technology industry groups, have said current procedures are sufficient, and that the new rule was arbitrary and unclear.

Contracting officers already have to make sure bidders are not debarred or suspended from federal work, have sufficient resources to perform the work and do not have a record of unsatisfactory performance for reasons within their control, opponents said.

ITAA Executive Vice President Olga Grkavac, said, "Existing law provides the government with sufficient tools to punish unethical companies that are convicted of violating federal statues and regulations, so we believe the move to revoke the final rule is the right one,"

In a July 6 letter to the General Services Administration, Arlington, Va.-based ITAA said the rule:

* is unworkable and an unnecessary encumbrance on contracting officers not qualified to make such determinations;
* could drive solution providers from the marketplace due to onerous certification requirements; and
* would result in delays in contract awards, which would be against the administration's goal of streamlining the procurement process.