http://www.greencardfamily.com/news/news2009/news2009_0408.htm
Obama Administration Is Reversing Bush Administration's Outsourcing of
Government Jobs to Private Contractors
Obama Administration is reversing Bush Administration's outsourcing of
government jobs to private contractors. The Omnibus Appropriations Act
of 2009 includes a moratorium of private contracting of government
jobs to private contractors.
Two provisions in the fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill approved
March 10 by the Senate would stop new federal competitive sourcing
projects. The House had already approved the bill. Under an initiative
by the Bush administration, federal employees compete against private
companies to perform government work.
The $410 billion omnibus legislation, which President Barack Obama is
expected to sign, contains a governmentwide moratorium on new public/
private job competitions for federal work until Sept. 30, 2009. Under
this bill, agencies could not begin any new studies on converting
federal work to contractors. Those competitions are defined by Office
of Management and Budget Circular A-76.
The spending bill also stipulates that federal agencies must establish
guidelines for bringing back government work currently being performed
by private contractors.
Federal employee unions approved of the change, but a business group
warned that the provisions would result in less flexibility and
efficiency for agencies.
"These are two very positive steps for taxpayers,=94 said Colleen
Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, in a
statement released today. =93This administration intends to stop
contracting out government services that should be performed by
federal employees.=94
John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government
Employees, said, =93We hope this is the end of the era of privatization
during which agencies were forced to contract out regardless of cost
or quality and at the expense of integrity and accountability of
federal programs.=94
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the moratorium. "The Chamber
opposes this provision, which would arbitrarily halt a successful
program," the group said Feb. 25. "Agencies across the government must
have the flexibility to move forward with competitions in order to get
the best value for the taxpayer, regardless of whether the government-
or private sector-led team wins."
The omnibus spending bill provides funding to most federal departments
and the legislative branch, which have been operating under a
continuing resolution that expires this month.
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