Consultant Reform Act of 1980

Consultant Reform Act of 1980 - Title I: Appointments - Establishes general statutory authority for the head of a Federal agency to appoint and fix the compensation of experts or consultants for temporary or intermittent services. Eliminates provisions of Federal law permitting an agency to procure such services by contract only when specifically authorized by appropriation or statute. Establishes the pay rate payable for GS-18 as the maximum pay rate for experts and consultants for all agencies. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prescribe regulations governing the employment of experts and consultants by Federal agencies. Requires each agency: (1) to submit to OPM a quarterly report on the number of days each consultant or expert is employed and the amount each individual is paid; and (2) to count such individuals as fractions of persons (depending on the number of hours they are employed) in administering any personnel ceiling. Prohibits an agency from initiating any action to obtain consultant or expert services by contract unless it has been certified that all reasonable steps have been taken to obtain such services by appointment. Title II: Contracts - Requires each Federal agency to transmit to the Secretary of Commerce a written notice describing: (1) any proposed contract in an amount exceeding $10,000, with specified exemptions; and (2) any contract modification that increases the contract award by $50,000 or more. Directs the Secretary to publish such notices in a specified publication of the Department of Commerce. Directs each agency to notify the Committees on Appropriations of each House of Congress concerning any such modification. Directs every Federal agency to maintain and make available to the public each month a list of contracts which were entered into during the preceding 24 months and for which contractors have not completed performance. Requires that such list disclose certain information concerning the contract, contractor, and Government employees responsible for awarding and administering the contract. Declares that all contracts, excluding contracts determined to be classified information for national security reasons, shall be considered public information. Specifies information concerning the qualifications and selection of a contractor which shall be available to the public upon request. Requires each agency report which is prepared by a contractor or which is derived from a contractor's report, to disclose certain information concerning the contract including: (1) the identity of the contractor; (2) the amount of the contract; and (3) the type of procurement process used to award the contract. Defines the term "organizational conflict of interest" as any situation in which a contractor has interests relating to work to be performed under a contract which may bias the contractor's judgment or result in an unfair competitive advantage to the contractor. Requires each contractor and each consultant or subcontractor used by such contractor to disclose any information relevant to any potential or existing organizational conflict of interest with regard to any contract for which such contractor is submitting a proposal or any proposed modification to an existing contract. Directs an agency, upon determining that such a conflict exists, to: (1) disqualify such contractor or the consultant or subcontractor from eligibility for award of the proposed contract; (2) modify the proposed contract to eliminate such conflict; (3) include in the agency records and transmit to Congress a statement concerning such conflict if the contract services can be obtained from no other person; (4) terminate the existing contract to be modified; or (5) modify the existing contract to mitigate the conflict and report thereon to Congress if termination is not in the best interest of the Government. Requires each agency to include with its requests for regular appropriations for each fiscal year an itemized statement of amounts requested for the procurement of goods and the procurement of services. Requires the Budget transmitted by the President to Congress each year to specify requests for new budget authority for an estimate of outlays by each agency for such procurement. Directs each agency head, by a specified date, to transmit to the Committees on Appropriations of each House an analysis of such requests and estimates. Requires each agency to include in its records regarding any completed contract totaling more than $50,000 and for which a report was prepared, an evaluation describing such report, the actions taken by the agency in response to such report, and a summary of the performance of the contractor. Directs an agency to consider an employee's compliance with agency rules and procedures applicable to contracting functions when: (1) evaluating the performance of a member of the Senior Executive Service; and (2) determining any pay increase for a supervisor or manager under the merit pay system. Requires the Director of OMB to apportion appropriations to Federal agencies in a manner which insures that no more than 20 percent of the total appropriations available to an agency in a fiscal year for procurement of goods and services may be obligated during the last two months of that year. Authorizes the Director to waive such spending limitation with regard to certain funds upon determining that such action is necessary to avoid a serious disruption of an agency program or operation, if the Director reports on such waiver to Congress. Requires the Director to report to Congress on the implementation, agency violations, impact, and continuation of such spending limitation. Exempts reserves established to comply with such a spending limitation from reporting requirements of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Requires the Director to promulgate a regulation establishing a data system for the collection and dissemination of information regarding Government procurement activities. Specifies information concerning each Government contract for the procurement of goods or services which must be included in the system. Directs the Director: (1) to make information within the system available to Congress, Federal agencies, and the public upon request; and (2) to submit to Congress quarterly and annual reports on Government procurement activities. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to require agencies to make information produced pursuant to a contract available to the public to the same extent as if produced by Government officials.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 26, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.