House Passes DHS Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act
Last week, the House passed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Multiyear Acquisition Strategy Act of 2017. The bill would required the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress “a multiyear acquisition strategy to guide the overall direction of the acquisitions of the Department while allowing flexibility to deal with ever-changing threats and risks, and to help industry better understand, plan, and align resources to meet the future acquisition needs of the Department.” The bill also requires DHS to keep a “prioritized list” of major acquisition programs, and “a reliable Department-wide inventory of investments and real property assets.” The bill is now in the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Rep. Velazquez Introduces New Bill to Standardize Procurement Language
IRep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) has introduced a new bill to amend the Small Business Act to ensure uniformity in procurement terminology in the code. The bill would ensure that terms like “prime contract,” “simplified acquisition threshold” and “micro-purchase threshold” are used consistently throughout the Act.
GSA Expediting Award for Law Enforcement Vehicles
The General Services Administration (GSA) has said it is “expediting the awarding of helicopters configured for law enforcement, firefighting, and search and rescue operations under its Multiple Awards Schedule 84 — Total Solutions for Law Enforcement,” according to the Federal Times. The awards schedule is available to both federal agencies and state and local governments.
How IARPA Conducts Frequent Reviews
GovExec talks with Jason Matheny, director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) about his agency’s process for reviewing ongoing funding. According to the article, Matheny eschews the annual review to check in every six months. “The bulk of time on my job is to review progress on new programs, and a fourth of our budget is test and evaluation,” he says.
New York Considers “Buy American” Initiative
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed the state legislature pass “Buy American” legislation that would require all state entities to purchase products made in the USA for all contracts and procurements over $100,000. James Briggs, president of the Niagara County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, writes in support of the idea, arguing that it “makes no sense to send our tax dollars overseas when domestic companies and workers are ready to do the work at a competitive price.” According to the article, more than 80% of New Yorkers polled agree with the governor’s initiative.
FBI Contractor Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements
Akadiy Zagaytov, a former FBI contractor, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents in connection with an official FBI investigation. According to the release from the Department of Justice Zagaytov worked as an Oracle Database Administrator at the FBI Headquarters Information Technology Division, where he “served as a conduit for purported ‘consulting’ payments from the private company to the senior official. Zagaytov prepared and submitted false invoices to the private company for up to $140,000 in services that he never rendered or performed.”