The managers support the underlying principle of the Administration's
competitive sourcing initiative, which is that the government must continually
strive to improve the efficiency of its operations and the delivery of the
services it provides to the citizens of the
The managers have included bill language in Title III, General Provisions, outlining specific spending limits and reporting requirements for each program, project, and activity affected by the competitive sourcing initiative. These fiscal year 2004 funding instructions apply to all studies for which work has not yet begun, even though a department or agency may have previously announced plans to conduct such studies. The managers note that these requirements should not be construed as opposition to the careful and considered conduct of a competitive sourcing program. The managers want to ensure that there is full disclosure on the use of appropriated funds in order to enable Congress and the public to evaluate the costs and tradeoffs involved in an initiative of this magnitude.
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Both the House and the Senate Committee reports expressed serious concern for the manner in which the Forest Service has implemented competitive sourcing studies. The managers remain very concerned and have provided instructions for the Forest Service and other agencies in section 340 of this Act, which replace the earlier instructions. The managers understand that last year the Forest Service spent at least $18,000,000 on this effort without any prior notification of, or approval by, the Committees on Appropriations. The managers understand that this effort will go forward during fiscal year 2004, but the Administration will provide more timely information to Congress and the public when undertaking competitive sourcing activities.
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Section 340--The conference agreement modifies House section 335 requiring full accounting of the funding requirements of competitive sourcing studies and limiting the use of funds for competitive sourcing studies under certain situations.
The managers have modified the House language to require that funding levels
for competitive sourcing studies be displayed in annual budget justifications
for the programs funded in this bill for the Department of the Interior, the
Department of Energy, and the Forest Service. This section also requires these
agencies to provide detailed reporting on the results of past competitive
sourcing studies by
The total amounts that may be spent by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy for competitive sourcing activities initiated or continued in fiscal year 2004, without obtaining approval through the reprogramming process, are $2,500,000 and $500,000, respectively. If additional funds are required over and above these amounts, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy should follow established reprogramming guidelines. The Forest Service may, on the other hand, spend a maximum of $5,000,000 on competitive sourcing activities initiated or continued in fiscal year 2004.
Each competitive sourcing study involving more than ten Federal employees must be based on a most cost efficient and cost effective organization plan and the contracted function must be less costly to the government by ten percent or $10,000,000. Certain types of procurements and businesses involving non-profit handicap organizations, Indian tribes, and Hawaiian natives are exempt from the most effective and cost efficient organization plan requirement and the ten percent or $10,000,000 threshold.