White House warms to Davis bill

In the last six months, the Bush administration has warmed to many of the provisions in Rep. Tom Davis' Services Acquisition Reform Act, and Davis is moving the bill quickly through the legislative process.

H.R. 1837 was introduced April 29 and is scheduled for markup in the Virginia Republican's Government Reform Committee May 6. The bill was considered in the 107th Congress, but Davis was not able to move it out of committee.

Angela Styles, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, testified before the committee that she supports creating a chief acquisition officer in each agency, a position that would oversee acquisitions agencywide and have access to top agency leaders, and a CAO council. She also said she supports the bill's provisions meant to encourage good contract performance.

The provisions include permission to use simplified acquisition procedures for commercial items on performance-based services contracts or task orders worth $5 million or less. The bill also would allow agencies to extend the length of services contracts if vendors exhibit exceptional performance based on standards set in the contracts.