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New Legislation Would Expand Federal Contractor Performance Database

On May 6, 2010, Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced the 2010 Federal Contracting and Oversight Act. The bill is designed to prevent contractors with poor performance records from receiving government contracts and give members of Congress and federal agency contracting officers more information about companies by expanding the reach of the recently enacted Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). The legislation would double the length of time contractors' past performance records remain in a government database and broaden the types of information stored from five to ten years. The bill would condition the award of a federal contract on fulfillment of the reporting requirements for the FAPIIS database. It would also require federal agencies to submit:
  • An annual audit of the contract files required under the Clean Contracting Act of 2008 to ensure that federal contracting officials are appropriately consulting and considering the FAPIIS database prior to making contract award decisions.
  • An annual report on overlap between companies that have been suspended or debarred and those that are receiving federal contracts.
  • An assessment on the need and feasibility of developing a new, more effective system of uniquely identifying federal contractors.
  • An assessment of the feasibility and possible approaches to integrating and consolidating the wide range of existing contracting information databases into a single searchable linked network for contracting officers, members of Congress, and appropriate government officials.
The bill would direct the Office of Management and Budget to integrate and consolidate nine government-wide contractor information databases into a single searchable and linked network. Such databases include: USASpending.gov, which tracks all contract spending; Federal Business Opportunities, which lists contracts up for bid; and the Excluded Parties List System, a site of all suspended and debarred firms. AGC is especially concerned that this legislation would double the length of time such information would be retained in the FAPIIS and expand the database to include information concerning all administrative proceedings against contractors. We are also concerned that the database would be required to track federal-aid contracts as well as federal contracts. AGC will continue meeting with members of Congress and other key procurement leaders to relay these concerns and explain the impact on the construction industry. For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.