Industry hails signing of 2019 NDAA

President Trump signed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act on Monday and with it came several provisions popular with the IT industry.

The Professional Services Council pointed to parts of the law that addressed problems with lowest price, technically acceptable contract, restoration of prompt payments to small business defense subcontractors, and security clearances.

In the area of LPTA, the 2019 NDAA imposes restrictions governmentwide on when LPTA can be used for complex IT and professional services. PSC says this move will help agencies procure more innovative solutions and better value.

The prompt payment provision will allow DOD to pay small business subcontractors more quickly, which is critical for small businesses that do not have the same cash flow volume as larger businesses.

For the security clearances, the 2019 NDAA has several reporting requirements that industry hopes will help Congress collect the information it needs to find a solution to the clearance backlog.

A fourth provision touted by PSC was the requirement for a governentwide uniform definition of Procurement Administrative Lead Time or PALT. The law also requires a plan for measuring PALT. PALT is the time between the start of a procurement and when goods or services are delivered.

Reducing the time between the start of a procurement and when something is delivered has long been a goal. We’ve seen many agencies put out a timeline and hit the miles for when the RFP is out and when proposals are due, only to have the evaluation period grow by months.

Collecting data and finding a uniform way of measuring PALT might go a long way in identifying ways to address the issues.

While passage of the 2019 NDAA is a milestone. In addition to the policy issues, it authorizes DOD to spend $717 billion in fiscal 2019. Of course, Congress still needs to pass an appropriations bill that will actually let DOD spend that money. No word on when that will happen.