Solicitation Enhancement Act of 1993

Summary: Solicitation Enhancement Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to revise solicitation, evaluation, and award procedures for public contracts. 
Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to pay for non-Federal employees to evaluate or analyze proposals submitted for an acquisition, unless Federal employees with adequate training and capabilities to perform such activities are not readily available within the agency or any other Federal agency. 
Sets forth requirements for the delegation of procurement authority for certain acquisitions in special circumstances. 
Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to provide guidance and promulgate regulations on what actions agencies must take to determine whether expertise is readily available within the Government and how it may be shared before they contract for advisory and technical services to conduct acquisitions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Solicitation Enhancement Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. SOLICITATION EVALUATION AND AWARD.

    (a) Solicitation Requirements.--Section 303A of the Federal 
Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253a) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and significant subfactors'' 
                after ``all significant factors''; and
                    (B) by striking ``(including price)'' and inserting 
                ``(including cost or price, cost- or price-related 
                factors, and noncost- or nonprice-related factors)'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B) by inserting ``and significant 
        subfactors'' after ``factors''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) In prescribing the evaluation factors to be included in each 
solicitation for competitive proposals, the head of an agency or his 
designee shall clearly establish the relative importance assigned to 
the evaluation factors and significant subfactors, including the 
quality of the product or services to be provided (including technical 
capability, management capability, and prior experience of the 
offeror).''.
    (b) Evaluation and Award.--Section 303B of the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ``and award a contract'' 
        after ``competitive proposals'';
            (2) in subsection (c) in the second sentence by inserting 
        ``in accordance with subsection (a)'' after ``shall evaluate 
        the bids'';
            (3) in subsection (d) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
        follows:
    ``(1) The executive agency shall evaluate competitive proposals in 
accordance with subsection (a) and may award a contract--
            ``(A) after discussions with the offerors, if written or 
        oral discussions have been conducted with all responsible 
        offerors who submit proposals within the competitive range; or
            ``(B) without discussions with the offerors (other than 
        discussions conducted for the purpose of minor clarification), 
        if the solicitation included a statement that an award could be 
        made, without discussions, unless discussions are determined to 
        be necessary.''; and
            (4) in subsection (d) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) 
        and by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (2).
    (c) Application.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
amendments made by this section shall apply to--
            (A) solicitations for sealed bids or competitive proposals 
        issued after the end of the 120-day period beginning on the 
        date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (B) contracts awarded pursuant to those solicitations.
    (2) The head of an agency may apply the amendments made by this 
section to solicitations issued before the end of the period referred 
to in paragraph (1). The head of the agency shall publish in the 
Federal Register notice of any such earlier date of application before 
the beginning of the 10-day period ending on that date.

SEC. 3. CONTRACTING FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY FEDERAL PERSONNEL.

    (a) Prohibition of Expenditures.--(1) No appropriated funds may be 
expended by any agency to award a contract for goods or services to 
which the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 
applies, unless such agency uses employees who are adequately trained 
and capable of conducting evaluations and analyses of proposals 
submitted for such acquisitions. No person who is not an employee may 
be paid by an agency for services to conduct evaluations or analyses of 
any aspect of a proposal submitted for an acquisition, unless employees 
with adequate training and capabilities to perform such evaluations and 
analyses are not readily available within the agency or any other 
Federal agency.
    (2) In the administration of this subsection, the head of each 
agency shall determine the standards of adequate training and 
capability of employees to conduct such acquisitions.
    (b) Delegation of Procurement Authority.--With respect to 
acquisitions subject to section 111 of the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949, the Administrator of General 
Services may not issue a delegation of procurement authority for an 
acquisition without first receiving certification from the contracting 
agency that--
            (1) such agency has employees within the agency or 
        available from another agency who are adequately trained and 
        capable of conducting evaluations and analyses of proposals 
        submitted for such an acquisition; or
            (2)(A) such agency does not have employees within the 
        agency who are adequately trained and capable of conducting 
        evaluations and analyses of proposals submitted for such an 
        acquisition; and
            (B) such adequately trained and capable employees are not 
        readily available from other agencies in accordance with 
        regulations promulgated by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
        Council under subsection (c).
    (c) Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council.--No later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition 
Regulatory Council shall--
            (1) review part 37 of title 48 of the Code of Federal 
        Regulations as it relates to the use of advisory and assistance 
        services and provide guidance and promulgate regulations 
        regarding what actions agencies are required to take to 
        determine if expertise is readily available within the 
        Government before contracting for advisory and technical 
        services to conduct acquisitions; and
            (2) provide guidance and promulgate regulations regarding 
        the manner in which Federal employees with expertise may be 
        shared with agencies needing expertise for such acquisitions.
    (d) Definition.--For purposes of this section the term ``employee'' 
shall have the same meaning as such term is defined under section 2105 
of title 5, United States Code.