OMB Cracks Down on Wasteful Outsourcing

March Announcement

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the U.S. government was paying too much for things it did not need and ordered a crackdown on spending he declared "plagued by massive cost overruns and outright fraud."

The Democrat, under fire from Republicans for the $3.5 trillion price tag for his 2010 budget plan, also took aim at predecessor George W. Bush and noted the cost of government contracts had doubled to more than half a trillion dollars over the past eight years. 

Click here to read the Presidential Executive Order

July Outsourcing Reforms

WASHINGTON, July 29 — President Obama in conjunction with the OMB formally unveiled contracting and workforce reforms that are designed to save the taxpayers at least $40 billion a year. The reforms, released today, focuses on three areas: improving acquisition, managing the multi-sector workforce, and contractor performance information.

"Today’s guidance is a major step forward in providing the federal government with the capacity to carry out robust and thorough management and oversight of its contracts in order to achieve programmatic goals, avoid significant overcharges, and stop wasteful spending,"

 Click here to read the OMB's Contracting Reforms

October Contracting Guidelines

WASHINGTON, October 27 – In an attempt to crack down on mismanaged and wasteful federal contracting practices while strengthening oversight and accountability capacity across the government, the Obama Administration has issued guidance today that requires federal agencies to increase the capability and capacity of the civilian agency acquisition workforce to ensure sufficient management and oversight of acquisition dollars.

The guidance also provides specific instructions for agencies to avoid high-risk contracts that can result in excessive costs being passed on to taxpayers.

 Click here to read the OMB's Contracting Guidelines

NASHTU Sponsored Legislation

H.R. 2104 - the Safety, Efficiency and Accountability in Transportation Projects through Public Inspection Act of 2009

• HR 2104 - Text of Bill

• HR 2104 - One Page Fact Sheet

• HR 2104 - Disaster Examples

• HR 2104 - Support Letter from Union

• HR 2104 - Co-sponsorship Request Letter from Union

• Bill Summary and Status from the Library of Congress Website

Click here to view previous Sponsored Legislation

News Stories

1. SENATE APPROVES JOBS BILL, HOUSE RESPONSE UNCLEAR

    

   The Senate this week passed its version of a jobs package (H.R. 2847) by a vote of 70 - 28. Thirteen Republicans joined Democrats to return the bill to the House, which passed its version of jobs legislation in December.  However, controversy over funding allocations has complicated plans to pass the legislation in the House.

    

   The $15 billion Senate-passed bill includes an extension of surface transportation programs through the end of 2010, and would allow an additional transfer of $19 billion from the General Fund into the depleted Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Because the $19 billion is a transfer from the government's general fund into the HTF, it does not count towards the total stated "cost" of the bill. Without the $19 billion transfer, the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund will fall below the $4 billion threshold in May and completely run out of money in August.

    

   The bill now goes to the House which will decide whether to pass the Senate version or go to conference to reconcile the bill with their $154 billion jobs package. Many House Democrats have raised concerns over the bill based on its smaller size, and members of both parties have voiced serious objections to the way the highway section of the bill was written. The formula in the Senate version would benefit highway projects in California, Illinois, Louisiana, and Washington by giving those states $532 million of the $932 million dedicated to the two highway programs in the bill. Twenty-two states would not receive any funding from the formula and the remaining states would receive far less than the four.

    

   Due to the immediate concerns over the Senate bill, the House will not clear the package by the end of the week. Therefore, House and Senate leaders have put together a 30 day transportation extension to avoid a shut-down of the programs on March 1.  The short-term extension bill (H.R. 4691) will buy both chambers more time to iron out the details of H.R. 2847, while keeping highway funds flowing.

    

   Watch for future key alerts as jobs legislation advances in Congress.

    

2. Federal Highway & Transit Programs Extended Through February 

   December 30 (AASHTO Journal) – President Barack Obama signed into law last week a Department of Defense appropriations bill that includes an extension of highway and transit authorization through February -- the third short-term extension since the 2005 transportation law known as "SAFETEA-LU" expired Sept. 30.

    

   The 72-day extension (contained in HR 3326) became Public Law 111-118 on Dec. 19 following Obama's signature and the Senate's vote of 88-10 earlier Dec. 19 to adopt the measure. This is the longest SAFETEA-LU extension to date. The first extension covered the month of October and the second extension was good for 48 days, expiring Dec. 18. Click here to read article

    

3. Driving Up the Cost For Public Works

   February 14 (The Washington Post) - Design and engineering companies helping to build the nation's highways ran up millions of dollars in inappropriate charges at the expense of taxpayers, including bills for parties, luxury car leases and hefty paychecks for executives, according to auditors.

    

   The bills were described by the firms as overhead costs but should not have been allowed, according to a Feb. 5 report by auditors in the Department of Transportation's inspector general's office. Click here to read article.

    

4. Texas Dot contracting more, at higher costs

    

   February 1 (Austin American-Statesman) - As the state's largest user of contract services, the Texas Department of Transportation has embraced outsourcing more than any other state agency, putting almost three of every four dollars it spends in the pockets of private companies. In 2007, that amounted to about $6 billion, according to a 2009 Texas Sunset Advisory Commission report.

    

   TxDOT has always hired out its road construction. But in recent years, it has steadily increased the number of private contractors it hires to do other work, such as road maintenance and repairs, and engineering and design work.  Click here to read article.

    

5. Obama:  Transportation can get economy moving

    

6. Big Dig firm eyed for $300M bridge job

    

7. California budget woes whipsaw highway contractors

    

8. Budget crisis threatens California public works projects

    

9. Obama unveils 21st Century New Deal

    

10. For New Transportation Secretary, a Hard Road Ahead

     

11. Companies to Settle for $26 Million in Tunnel Collapse
              November 15, 2008 Boston Globe

     

12. I-35 Bridge Tragedy May Yield New Rules
              November 14, 2008 Minneapolis Star Tribune

     

13. House Transportation Leaders Sound Alarm About Growing Role of Public/Private Partnerships
              November 4, 2008 Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Press Release

     

14. Costly Consultants, Big Budget Lead to Price Tag
              October 26, 2008 Lincoln Journal Star

     

15. Orange County Toll Road Agency Seeks Federal Bailout
              October 17, Los Angeles Times

     

Events

NASHTU 11th Annual Conference

April 27-29, 2010

Hyatt Regency - Washington, D.C.

 Lobby Congress

Hear Latest from Congressional, Administration Leaders

Interesting Panel Discussions & Workshops

Congressional Reception

Share Insights from Throughout the U.S.

...and much more

Details to follow.  Please call 916-446-0584 or email nashtu@nashtu.us if you have any questions.

Click here for previous NASHTU Conference Highlights