Reps. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., and Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., reintroduced the Federal Improvement in Technology (FIT) Procurement Act on Wednesday in an effort to streamline the Federal procurement process for agencies and their contractors.
The FIT Procurement Act passed the House last December. A companion bill from Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gary Peters, D-Mich., advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last May, but never reached the Senate floor for a final vote.
“The government’s procurement system is slow, outdated, and frustrating,” Rep. Burlison said in a press release. “The FIT Procurement Act cuts through the red tape, saves taxpayers money, and finally brings procurement practices up to the standards of any efficient business.”
Specifically, the bill would raise the micro-purchase threshold from $10,000 to $25,000 – allowing Federal agencies to make smaller purchases more quickly.
It would also increase the simplified acquisition threshold from $250,000 to $500,000, enabling quicker, more flexible contracting that also opens doors for small businesses.
The legislation would also provide advanced training to the Federal acquisition workforce. While the text of the bill was not available as of Friday, the previous version of the legislation would have provided training in newer technologies like cloud services and artificial intelligence.
“The FIT Procurement Act is designed to help Federal agencies more easily access new technologies while cutting costs and minimizing waste,” said Rep. Subramanyam. “This bipartisan bill will give small businesses more opportunities to compete for government contracts, while also saving tens of millions of dollars annually.”
The bill has received robust industry support from the Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI), Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), American Consumer Institute, Professional Services Council, Small Business Roundtable, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
In a letter sent to the leadership of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in support of the bill, ADI said the legislation would enable the Federal government “to be more efficient and effective in a modern digital world.”
“This bill helps modernize the Federal procurement process, particularly by removing outdated barriers that prevent agencies from accessing the latest commercial cloud-based technologies from companies of all sizes,” ADI said.