On July 16, the General Services Administration published via its website 16 legislative proposals that the Office of Management and Budget transmitted to the 119th Congress. Legislative proposal No. 11, “Providing Best Value Through the Multiple Award Schedule Program,” will update “the standard for the GSA Multiple Award Schedules program to seek out the best value for government, rather than the lowest cost which many not account for administrative costs, product quality, delivery time, and other factors.” This proposal will have a profound, positive impact on delivering mission support through the Multiple Award Schedule program for customer agencies and the American people.
The current statutory language underpinning the MAS program provides that contracts and orders result in the lowest cost alternative to the meet the government’s needs. This standard was adopted over 40 years ago, in 1984, as part of the Competition in Contracting Act. The administration’s legislative proposal would update the MAS statutory language, bringing it into the 21st century, by substituting “lowest cost alternative to meet the government’s needs” with “best value products and services for the Federal government.”