H.R. 4123

119 HR 4123 EH: Federal Improvement in Technology Procurement Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
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 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I
 119th CONGRESS  2d Session
 H. R. 4123
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 AN ACT
To improve Federal technology procurement, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Federal Improvement in Technology Procurement Act   or the   FIT Procurement Act  .
2.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Acquisition workforce
The term  acquisition workforce  means employees of an executive agency who are responsible for procurement, contracting, or program or project management that involves the performance of acquisition-related functions or other employees as designated by the Chief Acquisition Officer, senior procurement executive, or head of the contracting activity.
(2)
Administrator
The term  Administrator  means the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
(3)
Chief Acquisition Officer
The term  Chief Acquisition Officer  means a Chief Acquisition Officer appointed pursuant to section 1702(a) of title 41, United States Code.
(4)
Cross-functional
The term  cross-functional  means a structure in which individuals with different functional expertise or from different areas of an organization work together as a team.
(5)
Executive agency
The term  executive agency  has the meaning given that term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code.
(6)
Experiential learning
The term  experiential learning  means on-the-job experiences or simulations that serve to enhance workforce professional skills.
(7)
Information and communications technology
The term  information and communications technology —
(A)
has the meaning given that term in section 4713(k) of title 41, United States Code; and
(B)
includes information and communications technologies covered by any definition contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, including a definition added after the date of the enactment of this Act by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council pursuant to notice and comment.
(8)
Relevant committees of Congress
The term  relevant committees of Congress  means the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.
(9)
Senior procurement executive
The term  senior procurement executive  means a senior procurement executive designated pursuant to section 1702(c)(1) of title 41, United States Code.
(10)
Small business
The term  small business  has the meaning given the term  small business concern  in section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 ).
3.
Acquisition workforce
(a)
Experiential learning
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute may establish a pilot program to consider the incorporation of experiential learning into the Federal Credentials Program, the Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer’s Representatives program, the Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers program, or any successor program.
(b)
Training on information and communications technology acquisition
(1)
In general
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, in coordination with the Administrator, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government, and in consultation with the heads of other executive agencies as determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute, may develop and implement or otherwise provide a cross-functional information and communications technology acquisition training program for members of the acquisition workforce involved in acquiring information and communications technology that shall do the following:
(A)
Include learning objectives related to the following:
(i)
Market research.
(ii)
Communicating with and considering industry perspectives on the procurement process, including how investment decisions are impacted by Government communication and engagement.
(iii)
Developing requirements, acquisition planning, best practices for developing and executing outcome-based contracts, and source selection strategy.
(iv)
Evaluating proposals.
(v)
Awarding and administering contracts for information and communications technology.
(B)
Include learning objectives that provide a basic understanding of key technologies that executive agencies need, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence-enabled applications, and cybersecurity solutions.
(C)
Include learning objectives that encourage the use of commercial or commercially available off-the-shelf technologies to the greatest extent practicable.
(D)
Include case studies of lessons learned from Federal information and communications technology procurements and contracts, and related matters as determined to be relevant by the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute.
(E)
Include experiential learning opportunities and opportunities to practice collaborative acquisition strategies involving team members with varied relevant domain expertise to complete acquisition-related tasks, including tasks with accelerated timelines.
(F)
Include continuous learning recommendations and resources to keep the skills of members of the acquisition workforce current, including tools that help adopt or adapt the use of innovative acquisition practices or other flexible business practices commonly used in commercial buys.
(G)
Be made available to members of the acquisition workforce designated by a Chief Acquisition Officer, senior procurement executive, or head of the contracting activity to participate in the training program.
(H)
Inform executive agencies about streamlined and alternative procurement methods for the procurement of information and communications technology, including the following:
(i)
Simplified procedures for certain commercial products and commercial services in accordance with subpart 13.5 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, prize competitions under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( Public Law 111–358 ), competitive programs that encourage businesses to engage in Federal research or research and development with the potential for commercialization, and joint venture partnerships.
(ii)
Innovative procurement techniques designed to streamline the procurement process and lower barriers to entry, such as the use of oral presentations and product demonstrations instead of lengthy written proposals, appropriately leveraging performance and outcomes-based contracting, and other techniques discussed on the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations or other similar successor knowledge management portals.
(iii)
Information on appropriate use, examples and templates, and any other information determined relevant by the Administrator to assist contracting officers and other members of the acquisition workforce in using the procedures and techniques described in clauses (i) and (ii).
(I)
Incorporate learning objectives to identify and mitigate waste, fraud, and abuse and ensure the protection of established privacy rights, civil rights, and civil liberties in the procurement process.
(2)
Report
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute shall provide to the relevant committees of Congress, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council—
(A)
a report on the progress of the Director in developing and implementing or otherwise providing the training program described in paragraph (1); and
(B)
a list of any acquisition training that the Director determines to be outdated or no longer necessary.
(3)
Duration
The training program described in paragraph (1) may be updated as appropriate (but not less frequently than once every 2 years after implementation), and offered not less than 6 years following the date of implementation of the training program.
(c)
Acquisition workforce training fund
Section 1703(i)(3) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking  Five percent  and inserting  Seven and a half percent .
(d)
Harmonization of acquisition workforce training requirements
Section 2 of the Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act ( Public Law 117–207 ;  41 U.S.C. 1703  note) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)(4), by striking
Director. —The term  Director  means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  and inserting
Administrator. —The term  Administrator  means the Administrator of General Services. ; and
(2)
in subsection (b)—
(A)
in paragraph (1), by striking  Director, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services and any other person determined relevant by the Director  and inserting  Administrator, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget ;
(B)
in paragraph (4), by striking  Director  and inserting  Administrator ;
(C)
in paragraph (5), by striking  Director  and inserting  Administrator ; and
(D)
in paragraph (6), by striking  Director  and inserting  Administrator .
4.
Innovative procurement methods
(a)
Increase in simplified acquisition threshold
Section 134 of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking  $250,000  and inserting  $500,000 .
(b)
Simplified procedures for small purchases
Section 1901(a)(2) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking  $5,000,000  and inserting  $10,000,000 .
(c)
Increase in micro purchase threshold
Section 1902(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code, is amended by striking  $10,000  and inserting  $25,000 .
(d)
Advances for commercial technology subscriptions and tenancy
Section 3324(d) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)(C), by striking  ; and  and inserting a semicolon;
(2)
in paragraph (2)—
(A)
by inserting  or commercially available content  after  publication ; and
(B)
by striking the period at the end and inserting  ; and ; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(3)
charges for information and communications technology subscriptions, reservations, or tenancy, which means the sharing of computing resources in a private or public environment, including cloud environments, for which the ordering agency defines appropriate access and security standards.
 .
5.
Adjustments to certain acquisition thresholds
(a)
Major program
Section 109 of title 41, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b)(1)—
(A)
by striking  $75,000,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars)  and inserting  $275,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2024 dollars) ; and
(B)
by striking  $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars)  and inserting  $1,300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2024 dollars) ; and
(2)
in subsection (b)(2), by striking  $750,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars)  and inserting  $2,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2024 dollars) .
(b)
Modifications to submissions of cost or pricing data
Section 3502(a) of title 41, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)—
(A)
by striking  2018  each place it appears and inserting  2026 ;
(B)
in subparagraph (A), by striking  $2,000,000  and inserting  $10,000,000 ; and
(C)
in subparagraph (B), by striking  $750,000  and inserting  $2,000,000 ;
(2)
in paragraph (2)—
(A)
in subparagraph (A), by striking  $2,000,000  and inserting  $10,000,000 ;
(B)
in subparagraph (B), by striking  $750,000  and inserting  $2,000,000 ; and
(C)
in subparagraph (C), by striking  $750,000  and inserting  $2,000,000 ; and
(3)
in paragraph (3), by striking  chapter and—  and all that follows and inserting the following:
chapter and—
(A)
in the case of a prime contract entered into after June 30, 2026, the price of the subcontract is expected to exceed $10,000,000; or
(B)
in the case of a prime contract entered into on or before June 30, 2026, the price of the subcontract is expected to exceed $2,000,000.
 .
6.
Increasing competition in Federal contracting
(a)
Use of past performance
(1)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue guidance, including examples and templates where appropriate, on the following:
(A)
When a wider range of projects, including commercial, non-government, and Government projects, should be accepted as relevant past performance in order to have increased competition among eligible firms with capability to perform a requirement, such as a requirement without much precedent.
(B)
A means by which an agency may validate non-government past performance references, such as by requiring an official of an entity that provides past performance references to attest to their authenticity and by providing verifiable contact information for the references.
(C)
Any use of alternative evaluation methods other than past performance that may be appropriate for a requirement without much precedent, such as demonstrations and testing of technologies as part of the proposal process.
(2)
Supplement not supplant
The guidance required by paragraph (1) shall supplement existing Federal and agency policy and procedures for consideration of past performance and other evaluation factors and methods.
(b)
Enhancing competition in Federal procurement
(1)
Council recommendations
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall convene the Chief Acquisition Officers Council (in this subsection referred to as the  Council ) to make recommendations to identify and eliminate specific, unnecessary procedural barriers that disproportionately affect the ability of small businesses to compete for Federal contracts, with a focus on streamlining documentation and qualification requirements unrelated to the protection of privacy rights and civil liberties.
(2)
Consultation
The Council shall obtain input from the public, including from the APEX Accelerators program (formerly known as Procurement Technical Assistance Center network) and other contractor representatives, to identify Federal procurement policies and regulations that are obsolete, overly burdensome or restrictive, not adequately harmonized, or otherwise serve to create barriers to the participation of small businesses in Federal contracting or unnecessarily increase bid and proposal costs.
(3)
Examination of actions
The Council shall consider the input obtained under paragraph (2) and any other information determined relevant by the Council to identify legislative, regulatory, and other actions to increase competition and remove barriers to the participation of small businesses in Federal contracting.
(4)
Implementation
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, the Council, and other executive agencies as appropriate, shall implement the regulatory and other non-legislative actions identified under paragraph (3), as determined necessary by the Administrator, to remove barriers to entry for small businesses seeking to participate in Federal contracting.
(5)
Briefing
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief the relevant committees of Congress on the legislative actions identified under paragraph (3) and the actions implemented under paragraph (4).
(c)
Consideration of cost-efficiency and quality
The Administrator shall advocate for and prioritize contracting policies that ensure that cost-efficiency and quality of goods and services are key determining factors in awarding Federal contracts.
7.
Comptroller general assessment of small business participation in Federal procurement
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress and make publicly available a report that does the following:
(1)
Assesses the level of participation by small businesses in Federal procurement.
(2)
Identifies barriers and opportunities and the impact of policies on the ability of small businesses to compete in Federal procurement.
(3)
Catalogs and evaluates the effectiveness of programs intended to support the participation of small businesses in Federal procurement.
(4)
Analyzes trends in the involvement of small businesses in Federal technology projects, including data on contract awards, the diversity of sectors represented, and the geographic distribution of small business contractors.
8.
Conflict of interest procedures
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Administrator shall update the Federal Acquisition Regulation as necessary to provide additional guidance to executive agencies to address personal and organizational conflicts of interest involving members of the acquisition workforce.
9.
No additional funding
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
      Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2026.  Kevin F. McCumber,  Clerk.