Capital Roundup

The House of Representatives March 20 approved 421-0 a bill that would allow increased telecommuting among private-sector employees doing work for the federal government.

The Freedom to Telecommute Act of 2002, H.R. 3924, prohibits federal agencies from penalizing contractors who allow their employees to telework. Currently, federal agencies may refuse a bid proposal from a contractor that allows telecommuting.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., would ban agencies from continuing this practice unless the contracting officer certifies in writing that telecommuting would conflict with the agency's needs. For example, this exception may apply if a contractor must handle classified or sensitive information.

The bill also prohibits agencies from issuing solicitations that would reduce the scoring of proposals from contractors that use telecommuting. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind.The House Government Reform Committee March 14 approved bills that would reform the acquisition process and create a public-private exchange of information technology employees. The bills are sponsored by Reps. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Tom Davis, R-Va. Burton chairs the Government Reform Committee; Davis chairs its subcommittee on technology and procurement policy.

The Acquisition Streamlining Improvement Act, H.R. 3921, would extend for two years a pilot program authorizing streamlined acquisition procedures for commercially available goods and services worth up to $5 million.

The Digital Tech Corps Act, H.R. 3925, enables the exchange of IT managers between the public and private sectors for up to two years. The employees will remain on the payroll of their permanent employer.

The committee defeated an amendment by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., that would have required the Office of Personnel Management to establish a federal IT training program. Waxman said the Tech Corps bill did not guarantee that federal IT workers would get training in the private sector.