PSC Opposes NIST Proposal for New FFRDC

The Professional Services Council (PSC) questioned the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) plan to create a new Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), in comments submitted May 9.

SmartContracting Daily Intel March 8, 2013

Happy Friday! In today's news...

Marketplace: The sequester vs. the jobs recovery

http://bit.ly/XXSMfm

Washington Post: Days of sequester: The week-one round-up

http://wapo.st/Z5LMvs

Washington Business Journal: How agencies ignore opportunities to save billions

http://bit.ly/Z5LMf2

FCW: Push to reduce contractor compensation continues

http://bit.ly/ZxctsY

SmartContracting Daily Intel for Oct. 11, 2012

In today's news...

Washington Business Journal: To compete or not to compete? 

http://bit.ly/UM8OcX

FedScoop: Clapper: Sequestration ‘disastrous for intelligence’

http://bit.ly/RcL7Uo

FCW: IG chides DHS for careless acquisition practices

http://bit.ly/PpURz8

SmartContracting Daily Intel for June 5, 2012

In today's news: 

PSC: Strategic Reassessment of FFRDCs Needed

http://bit.ly/LlDnik

Related: Bloomberg Government: Contractor Group Says Taxpayers Lose as Nonprofit Centers Expand http://bit.ly/NE8xBC (subscription required)

Washington Technology: Will low-price contracting make us all losers?

http://bit.ly/KcNoKV

Bloomberg Government: Affirmative-Action Violations by U.S. Vendors Reach 9-Year High 

http://bit.ly/NE9c5V (subscription required)

Politico: Defense cuts could mean trouble at home for lawmakers

http://politi.co/KKdtVW

FCW: New White House cyber czar brings intell chops

http://bit.ly/M3YvqF

FCW: Tracking the IT budget's upward curve

http://bit.ly/NE9WrG

SmartContracting Daily Intel for May 30 & 31, 2012

Happy Thursday! Today, a special double edition of Daily Intel bringing you news you may have missed from yesterday and today. 

NextGov: Budget and Staff Pressures are Reshaping the Federal Cybersecurity Market

http://bit.ly/JPikY3

Politico: Cyberthreats turn into megabucks for defense companies

http://politi.co/JZtzq9

Bloomberg Government: September Spending Spree Takes on New Urgency: BGOV Insight (subscription required) http://bit.ly/JTCewr

CNN: Defense official says automatic cuts will cause 'absurdities'

http://bit.ly/KAEMCr

Bloomberg Government: Pay Pushing $1 Million at U.S.-Funded Groups Spurs Call for Caps (subscription required) http://bit.ly/MbSaz6

SmartContracting Daily Intel for May 1, 2012

Everyday SmartContracting brings you the news intel you may have missed regarding our industry.  In today's news...

Defense News: DoD Seeks New Commercial Buying Rules

http://bit.ly/JPUPfK

Federal Times: News Digest: Industry group opposes new research center 

http://bit.ly/Jn9R6M

FCW: Industry wants agencies in control, not mandates 

http://bit.ly/IDHln7

New York Times: Agency Scandal Highlights Conference Contracts

http://nyti.ms/ITcCS0

Federal News Radio: FAA's low marks cast more doubt on 'NextGen': BGOV Insight

http://bit.ly/Jn9Srr

SmartContracting Daily Intel for April 13, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th! Don't be afraid, SmartContracting is here to get you ready for the weekend with a rundown of today's news regarding our industry.   

FCW: Bill would allow federally funded centers to get exclusive access to government work

http://bit.ly/I8GVSz

Government Executive: Obama declines to issue executive order on contractor bias 

http://bit.ly/HCTCIp

OMB Blog: Do Not Pay Solution Open for Business

http://1.usa.gov/HCWvIM

FedScoop: FedRAMP Providers to be Announced in May

http://bit.ly/IDTuVb

Federal News Radio: Agencies feel strain of balancing mobility, security

http://bit.ly/HIgNxs

PSC Raises Concerns with Creation of CMS FFRDC

A key pillar of the Obama administration’s ongoing acquisition reform effort is boosting competition for opportunities to support the government’s missions. Yet, a decidedly non-competitive trend is emerging among federal agencies. Increasingly, agencies are forgoing altogether the normal procurement process to instead make sole-source awards to non-profits entities known as Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs).

The latest example comes from the Health and Human Services Department, which plans to establish a new FFRDC for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that will be available to the entire department. In an April 12 letter, PSC objected to the CMS plan outlined in a March 17 Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) notice because their proposal does not appear to meet the basic requirements for establishing such an entity.

Simply put, CMS failed to identify any research or development needs or justify why the FFRDC should be permitted to perform work across HHS. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, there are 10 requirements agencies must satisfy before establishing an FFRDC, including ensuring that “existing alternative sources for satisfying agency requirements cannot effectively meet the special research or development needs” of the agency. More significantly, the FAR requires that the “basic purpose and mission of the FFRDC is stated clearly enough to enable differentiation between work which should be performed by the FFRDC and that which should be performed by non-FFRDCs.”

In our view, the notice does neither. CMS takes a different view.

In an April 13 letter to PSC, CMS wrote that although CMS leaders are “aware of the specific regulations regarding the establishment of an FFRDC,” CMS “does not have a requirement of detailing our market research or decision making processes” because “revealing this information may compromise the procurement process.” How publicly justifying procurement decisions would do so is not explained, but CMS assured PSC that all the appropriate processes were followed. Given the lack of transparency into their processes, we’ll just have to take their word for it. But that won’t stop us from raising our objections to the CMS initiative.