This week saw the start the formal rule-making phase of the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO). On Tuesday, the FAR Council published 17 sections of the FAR for public comment. This marks the beginning of a transformative period where the RFO deviations become formal, final rules. It is a welcome next step with an ambitious goal of finalizing the FAR by the end of the calendar year.
As progress streamlining the FAR continues, there are related opportunities for revolutionary procurement reform. Given the Administration’s focus on simplifying and streamlining procurement, and its emphasis on commercial buying, the General Services Administration (GSA) should embark on a Revolutionary Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Overhaul (RMO). The MAS program is the government’s largest commercial item contract vehicle. As such, it should lead by example, reducing unnecessary, burdensome provisions, procedures, and policies that increase costs and create barriers to entry for commercial vendors.
As a first step, GSA should review the MAS solicitation and attachments consistent with the RFO’s policy goals of streamlining procurement and buying commercial. The MAS solicitation with attachments is approximately 600 pages. The sheer number of pages indicates a complex set of requirements and a voluminous set of instructions, clauses, and data requests from potential offerors. GSA has made foundational progress in consolidating the MAS solicitation, eliminating the Commercial Sales Practices requirements, eliminating the Price Reduction Clause, and adopting Transactional Data Reporting. These foundational changes, buttressed by the RFO, create a genuine opportunity for a top-down review of the MAS solicitation, procedures, system, standards, and processes.
Moreover, the reorganization of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) provides a management framework for the RMO. The new Office of Acquisition Solutions Development (Create) manages the entire MAS program, allowing for greater consistency and efficiency in operations. The reorganization also brings GSA’s Office of Acquisition Policy front and center as the lead on all MAS policy. These two offices, with input from internal and external stakeholders, can launch the RMO to reduce administrative burdens, increase access to the commercial market, reduce costs, standardize and drive best value for customer agencies.
Look for future blogs on RMO opportunities. The impact can be revolutionary.