US government to improve integrity of contracting procurement system

Source: Supply Management

The US government is set to offer public access to its contracting data in a bid to improve the “integrity and transparency of the procurement system”, the US Federal Budget statement said.

The public will gain access to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System which contains data on a contractor’s track record and business ethics.

“For the first time, taxpayers will be able to see the information that contracting officers use to protect the public’s resources from the waste and abuse of contractors who are proven bad actors,” the statement said. 

The planned publication of contractor data is part of an effort to cut spending by US$1.1 trillion over the next decade, as the administration struggles to reduce its deficit, which is expected to reach US$1.65 trillion this year.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has announced a five-year freeze on all discretionary spending outside of security. “Over a decade, this freeze will save more than $400 billion, cut non-security funding to the lowest share of the economy since at least 1962, and put the discretionary budget on a sustainable trajectory,” he said.

The US government has also announced progress in its planned contracting reforms in a bid to save $40 billion by the end of 2011, over a two-year period.

“In the financial year 2010, agencies spent nearly $80 billion less than they would have spent had contract spending continued to grow at the same rate it had under the prior administration,” said Jack Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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