On September 29, The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) issued guidance to federal agency chief acquisition officers and senior procurement executives in their effort to curb duplication of multiple award contracts (MACs). 

In another great AGC success, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a memorandum, on Oct. 5, which implements a new process for obtaining Past Performance Information (PPI) by use of Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs).  This change came about several meetings with USACE on the need to provide efficiency in the process for both the government as well as the contractor.

AGC is again attacking agency efforts to use Project Labor Agreements on federal construction projects.  AGC sent a follow-up letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) expressing strong concerns against DOL’s decision, to impose a project labor agreement (PLA) on contractors that will perform the construction of the Department’s new Job Corps Center in Manchester, New Hampshire.

AGC submitted comments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council on Sept. 29, in response to a proposal by the government that would standardize past performance evaluation factors and performance ratings.  The proposal also would require that all past performance information be entered into the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), the government-wide past performance feeder system.

On Sept. 21, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by a 22-13 vote, H.R. 2885, the Legal Workforce Act, sponsored by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).  The legislation would require all U.S. employers to use E-Verify.

On Sept. 15, 2011, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill for FY 2012. The legislation provides annual funding for the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, the General Services Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and several other independent agencies.

Sept. 15, 2011 marks end of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) six-year Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 program. Without question, it was the largest infrastructure investment program the U.S. Army has seen since World War II, with roughly $18 billion in military construction projects executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On Sept. 15, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee began consideration of H.R. 2885, the Legal Workforce Act, sponsored by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).  The legislation would require all U.S. employers to use E-Verify. 

On Sept. 7, 2011, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, by a 28-2 vote, the FY 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. AGC has prepared a summary of the impact of this legislation on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Works program and the Bureau of Reclamation.  To view the Committee report, please click here.

President Obama joined the call by congressional infrastructure leaders and announced plans to streamline the complex and sometimes time consuming federal permitting and review processes.  The memorandum instructs agencies to: