Jun 24, 2008

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee wants to make sure contractors do their job before the government pays out bonuses.



Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) recently introduced a bill (H.R. 6244) that would require DHS to pay a bonus under a cost-plus-award-fee contract only when the company actually meets the specified outcomes in the contract.

The cost-plus contracts are intended to reward contractors for above-average performances in their work. Award fees are based on the government’s judgment of the contractor’s overall performance.

“Ongoing oversight and review of these programs must continue,” Thompson said June 11.

Cost-plus contracts remain controversial with Congress and oversight officials. For example, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater program has faced numerous problems in recent years with management and contractor oversight, including awarding bonuses.

However, the Coast Guard intends to use other contracting methods and back away from the award-fee structure, the Government Accountability Office found in 2007. Meanwhile, GAO also said the Coast Guard has bolstered the criteria for awarding bonuses on the Deepwater program. The Coast Guard now has 24 milestones by which to measure the contractor’s performance, it said.

	Women owned business rules still dogs acting SBA chief
	OSDBU bridges the gap between agencies and small biz
	New head of SBA under fire already
	White House names Williams GSA administrator
	SBA signs veteran contracting agreement
	VA would give preference to vet owned contractors
	Think tank says competitive sourcing a benefit to taxpayers
	Senate seeks to save rule to help women owned biz
	FEMA regulations for subcontractors could hurt disaster response
	SBA HUBzone verification questionable
	Disabled veteran owned business to benefit from new bill
	Bill could increase scrutiny of purchase cards

Sign up now for our free weekly NAGC Government Contracting eNewsletter! Register below:

E-mail:

Name:

	GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR CARD A credit card designed exclusively for government contractors. Apply now for 0% APR for 9 Months!