H.R. 4123 — FIT Procurement Act

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) acquisition workforce (i.e., executive agency employees responsible for procurement, contracting, program or project management involving acquisition functions, or others designated by specified officials); (2) Administrator (i.e., the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy); (3) Chief Acquisition Officer; (4) cross-functional (i.e., teams with individuals of different functional expertise); (5) executive agency; (6) experiential learning (i.e., on-the-job experiences or simulations to enhance professional skills); (7) information and communications technology; (8) relevant committees of Congress (i.e., the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform); (9) senior procurement executive; and (10) small business (i.e., small business concern as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632).

This section requires the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) to (1) establish, not later than 18 months after enactment, a pilot program to consider incorporating experiential learning into the Federal Credentials Program, Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting Officer’s Representative Program, and Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers Program (or successors); (2) develop and implement, not later than 18 months after enactment and in coordination with specified officials, a cross-functional training program on information and communications technology (ICT) acquisitions for the acquisition workforce—including specified learning objectives on market research, industry engagement, requirements development, key technologies (e.g., cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity), commercial solutions, case studies, experiential learning, continuous learning, streamlined procurement methods, and mitigating waste, fraud, and abuse—requires a report to Congress and specified councils two years after enactment, and mandates updates at least every two years for a minimum of six years; (3) increases the percentage contribution to the Acquisition Workforce Training Fund under 41 U.S.C. 1703(i)(3) to 7.5% (from 5%); and (4) amends the Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act (Public Law 117-207) to redefine "Administrator" as the Administrator for General Services (previously "Director") and make related changes to training requirements harmonization.

This section (1) increases the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT)—the maximum value for procurements eligible for simplified procedures—to $500,000 (from $250,000); and (2) increases the micro-purchase threshold—the maximum value for purchases not requiring competition or quotes—to $25,000 (from $10,000). The section further amends exceptions to the prohibition on advances of public money (31 U.S.C. 3324) by authorizing prepayments for commercially available content and for information and communications technology subscriptions, reservations, or tenancy (i.e., sharing of computing resources in private or public cloud environments where the agency sets access and security standards). (Thus, agencies may prepay for cloud services and similar subscriptions previously restricted by the advance-payment ban.)

This section directs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, not later than one year after enactment, to issue guidance—including examples and templates—on (1) accepting a wider range of past performance, such as commercial or non-government projects, to increase competition for requirements without precedent; (2) validating non-government past performance references (e.g., via attestations and contact information); and (3) using alternative evaluation methods such as demonstrations or testing; with the guidance supplementing existing policies. It further requires the Administrator, not later than 90 days after enactment, to convene the Chief Acquisition Officers Council to recommend legislative, regulatory, and other actions to eliminate unnecessary procedural barriers—particularly documentation and qualification requirements unrelated to privacy or civil liberties—that disproportionately affect small business participation in federal contracting. The Council must consult the public, including the APEX Accelerators program (formerly Procurement Technical Assistance Centers). Not later than two years after enactment, the Administrator must implement necessary non-legislative actions, in consultation with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and others, and brief congressional committees on identified legislative actions. This section also directs the Administrator to advocate for and prioritize contracting policies that emphasize cost-efficiency and quality as key factors in awarding federal contracts.

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress, and make publicly available, not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, a report that (1) assesses the current level of small business participation in federal procurement, including barriers, opportunities, and the impact of existing policies; (2) catalogs and evaluates the effectiveness of programs supporting such participation; and (3) analyzes trends in small business involvement in federal technology projects, including contract awards, sector diversity, and geographic distribution of contractors.

This section directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to update the Federal Acquisition Regulation as necessary to provide executive agencies with additional guidance on addressing personal and organizational conflicts of interest involving members of the acquisition workforce.