Department of Veterans Affairs Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 341 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 5, 2019 Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet- 4 erans Affairs Procurement Efficiency and Transparency 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S341.IS S341 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 341 IS SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON COST OR PRICE SAVINGS FROM 1 COMPETITION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 81 of title 38, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8128 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 8129. Information on cost or price savings from 6 competition 7 ‘‘(a) RECORDING OF INFORMATION.—With respect to 8 any contract awarded by the Secretary that is reported 9 in the Federal Procurement Data System described in sec- 10 tion 1122(a)(4)(A) of title 41, or any successor system, 11 the Secretary shall record information on the amount of 12 any cost or price savings realized by using competitive pro- 13 cedures in awarding such contract. 14 ‘‘(b) PLACEMENT OF RECORDS.—The Secretary shall 15 place recorded information under subsection (a) as follows: 16 ‘‘(1) With respect to contracts recorded in the 17 Electronic Contract Management System, or any 18 successor system, in such system. 19 ‘‘(2) With respect to contracts not covered by 20 paragraph (1), in a location determined appropriate 21 by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF COST SAVINGS.—(1) In car- 23 rying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall calculate the 24 amount of cost or price savings realized by using competi- 25 tive procedures in awarding a contract by— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S341.IS S341 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 341 IS ‘‘(A) subtracting the total value of the selected 1 offer or quote from the average of the total values 2 of all offers or quotes evaluated; or 3 ‘‘(B) subtracting the total value of the selected 4 offer or quote from the total value of the median 5 offer or quote evaluated. 6 ‘‘(2) If the difference calculated pursuant to para- 7 graph (1) is negative, the Secretary shall record such dif- 8 ference as zero. 9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make calculations under 10 paragraph (1) with respect to a contract— 11 ‘‘(A) at the time at which the Secretary obli- 12 gates amounts under such contract; or 13 ‘‘(B) if such contract contains options, at the 14 time at which the option is exercised.’’. 15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 17 after the item relating to section 8128 the following new 18 item: 19 ‘‘8129. Information on cost or price savings from competition.’’. SEC. 3. USE OF STANDARDIZED PROCUREMENT TEM- 20 PLATES. 21 To the extent practicable, the Secretary of Veterans 22 Affairs shall make available and use on a Department- 23 wide basis the standardized procurement templates used 24 by the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Af- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S341.IS S341 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 341 IS fairs, the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans 1 Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Ad- 2 ministration. In carrying out this section, the Secretary 3 may customize such templates to address particular pro- 4 curement situations. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Feb 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S341.IS S341 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS