Federal Government Improvement of the Term Paper

The Office exacts a new level of accountability, which encourages a broader range of competitions and new organizations to enter these competitions. Congress authorizes the Office to develop the franchise funds pilots and to expand the competitive environment. It also invites the private sector to participate in new markets and at new levels of commercial workload. At the same time, it encourages the public to compete for the same work on a level playing field. To insure that the taxpayer continues to get the best out of the deal, the Office suggests a re-examination of outsourcing, cross-servicing and in-house performance decisions. The ultimate goal of the Office is to restore public faith in Government through a more effective management of its resources and by giving citizens and taxpayers greater value for their dollar. Federal employees have been found to be extremely cost competitive. Its Revised Supplemental Handbook expressly prefers private sector performance of new and expanded work requirements; requires agencies to develop inventories of commercial activities; prohibits the Government from entering into non-Federal support markets; and restricts the development of new or expanded interagency support agreements to those justified by full and open competitions. The Revision likewise provides that agencies may leave existing reimbursable agreements an convert directly to contract, without cost comparison and at the direction of the customer agency (Koskinen). The Office believes that the process not only works but has also begun to encourage real competition for Government work. This Revision and Circular a-76 also provide for incentives to improve performance and reduce cost by allowing fair and open competition for commercial services. Its rules furthermore provide appropriate controls and administrative assurances that these agencies compete on a level playing field and without unduly competing with or displacing the private sector (Koskinen).The proposed "Freedom from Government Competition Act of 1997 or S. 314" is a bill, which would require the Federal Government to procure from the private sector goods and services necessary for the operations and management of certain Government agencies (Koskinen 1997). It does not appear to offer more than Circular a-76 and the Revision already provide for. The guiding principle for determining when the Government should engage in commercial activities and when it should consider outsourcing, privatization or competition is to ensure that it gets the best deal for the American taxpayer. Full and open competition has characterized American economy and has made it the envy of the world. The Office fully supports the provision of Government services by those best able to do so, whether in the private or government sector. Putting existing agencies, franchise funds and cross-servicing arrangements out of the market can create many more agency prohibitions against outsourcing and competition. This bill is also likely to encourage an entirely new set of compliance litigations and exact higher costs to the taxpayer (Koskinen).

Bibliography

Florida, Richard. The New American Dream. The Washington Monthly: The Washington Monthly Company, March 2003

Gates, Bill. How to Keep America Competitive. The Washington Post: The Washington Post Company, February 25, 2007

Hawkins, William R. Uncoordinated Federal Technology Policies Put Nation at Risk. GAO Report. American Economic Alert: U.S. Business and Industry Council, March 4, 2007

Koskinen, John. The Freedom from Government Competition Act. Office of Management and Budget, June 18, 1997. Retrieved April 14, 2007 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb

White, Glenn. Productivity in the U.S. Economy. Villanova University, April 26, 2001. Retrieved….....