Acquisitions Savings Reform Act: Coming down the pipe

Recent legislation was introduced by two republican (Brown and Collins) and one independent (Lieberman) to "reform" acquisitions to "save" time and money. Among other things, the proposed legislation forces contractors to submit for final payment within 60 days of completion for firm fixed priced contracts, and allows contracting officer to unilaterally closeout contracts without final invoices. The proposed legislation also mandates use of online reverse auctions for commercial item procurement above the simplified acquisition threshold when it could save money. While well intended, if passed in the proposed form, there are various traps and/or problems for contractors, including impacts upon dispute resolution that do not seem to have been thought through by the proposed legislation's proponents. The proposed legislation is at the following link: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.1736: