VA Procurement Efficiency and Transparency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1577 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the procurement practices of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 6, 2019 Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Mrs. HARTZLER, and Mr. BERGMAN) introduced the following bill; which was 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 ‘‘VA Procurement Effi- 4 ciency and Transparency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON COST OR PRICE SAVINGS FROM 6 COMPETITION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 81 of title 38, United 8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8128 9 the following new section: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1577.IH H1577 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1577 IH ‘‘§ 8129. Information on cost or price savings from 1 competition 2 ‘‘(a) RECORDING OF INFORMATION.—With respect to 3 any contract awarded by the Secretary that is reported 4 in the Federal Procurement Data System described in sec- 5 tion 1122(a)(4)(A) of title 41, United States Code, or any 6 successor system, the Secretary shall record information 7 on the amount of any cost or price savings realized by 8 using competitive procedures in awarding such contract. 9 ‘‘(b) PLACEMENT OF RECORDS.—The Secretary shall 10 place recorded information under subsection (a) as follows: 11 ‘‘(1) With respect to contracts recorded in the 12 Electronic Contract Management System, or any 13 successor system, in such system. 14 ‘‘(2) With respect to contracts not covered by 15 paragraph (1), in a location determined appropriate 16 by the Secretary. 17 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF COST SAVINGS.—(1) In car- 18 rying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall calculate the 19 amount of cost or price savings realized by using competi- 20 tive procedures in awarding a contract by— 21 ‘‘(A) subtracting the total value of the selected 22 offer or quote from the average of the total values 23 of all offers or quotes evaluated; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1577.IH H1577 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1577 IH ‘‘(B) subtracting the total value of the selected 1 offer or quote from the total value of the median 2 offer or quote evaluated. 3 ‘‘(2) If the difference calculated pursuant to para- 4 graph (1) is negative, the Secretary shall record such dif- 5 ference as zero. 6 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make calculations under 7 paragraph (1) with respect to a contract— 8 ‘‘(A) at the time at which the Secretary obli- 9 gates amounts under such contract; or 10 ‘‘(B) if such contract contains options, at the 11 time at which the option is exercised.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 13 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 14 after the item relating to section 8128 the following new 15 item: 16 ‘‘8129. Information on cost or price savings from competition.’’. SEC. 3. USE OF STANDARDIZED PROCUREMENT TEM- 17 PLATES. 18 To the extent practicable, the Secretary of Veterans 19 Affairs shall make available and use on a Department- 20 wide basis the standardized procurement templates used 21 by the Central Office of the Department, the Veterans 22 Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administra- 23 tion, and the National Cemetery Administration. In car- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1577.IH H1577 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1577 IH rying out this section, the Secretary may customize such 1 templates to address particular procurement situations. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:16 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1577.IH H1577 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS