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1 

69–010 

" ! SENATE 110TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2008

110–344 

Calendar No. 768 

LOCAL PREPAREDNESS ACQUISITION ACT 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 3179 

TO AMEND TITLE 40, UNITED STATES CODE, TO 

AUTHORIZE THE USE OF FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, SECURITY, AND CERTAIN OTHER RELATED 

ITEMS BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 

JUNE 5, 2008.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

BARACK OBAMA, Illinois 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico 

JOHN WARNER, Virginia 

JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

KEVIN J. LANDY, Chief Counsel 

TROY H. CRIBB, Counsel 

NORA K. ADKINS, GAO Detailee 

BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

RICHARD A. BEUTEL, Minority Senior Counsel 

ERIC B. CHO, Minority GSA Detailee 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 768 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 110–344 

LOCAL PREPAREDNESS ACQUISITION ACT 

JUNE 5, 2008.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3179] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 3179) to amend title 40, United 

States Code, to authorize the use of Federal supply schedules for 

the acquisition of law enforcement, security, and certain other related items by State and local governments, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 2 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 3 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 4 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 3179 would allow State and local governments to purchase 

homeland security and public safety equipment and services from 

the Schedules Program of the General Services Administration 

(GSA). This procurement authority will help State and local governments reduce the administrative costs of negotiating their own 

contracts by authorizing them to use the pre-negotiated contracts 

of GSA. 


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II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

The GSA Schedules Program is also known as the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) or Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) Program. 

Under the FSS/MAS Program, federal agencies are able to purchase goods and services under contracts that are pre-negotiated by 

GSA. These contracts cover more than 11 million commercial goods 

and services and are listed in broad categories known as schedules. 

Under current law, State and local governments are authorized 

by Congress to purchase goods and services off the GSA schedules, 

in limited circumstances, under special procurement authority. Section 211 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107–347) authorized State and local governments to purchase information technology equipment from GSA schedules. Congress again granted 

similar purchasing authority in section 833 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 by authorizing State and 

local governments to use the GSA schedules for purchases related 

to recovery from disasters, acts of terrorism, or nuclear, biological, 

chemical or radiological attack. (Pub. L. 109–364). H.R. 3179 authorizes State and local purchasing under GSA Schedule 84, which 

covers products and services related to law enforcement and security. Schedule 84 includes items such as fire alarm systems, door 

entry control devices, intrusion detection sensors, bomb detection 

equipment, perimeter security and video surveillance systems. The 

Committee believes that these authorities have helped State and 

local governments streamline their acquisition procedures and save 

money. Use of the GSA schedules allows State and local governments to reduce time and resources spent on negotiating and 

awarding contracts for needed goods and services and gives them 

access to the pre-negotiated prices on the FSS/MAS Schedules. The 

Committee believes that it is appropriate to extend such purchasing authority to help State and local governments meet growing homeland security and public safety needs. 

The Committee also believes that enactment of H.R. 3179 will expand opportunities for small businesses under Schedule 84. According to GSA officials, over 85 percent of the vendors listed on Schedule 84 are small businesses. The Committee expects GSA to offer 

training to small businesses who seek to participate in the new 

purchasing program. 

Participation in the purchasing program is voluntary for State 

and local governments, as well as vendors, and requires no federal 

appropriations. H.R. 3179 does not mandate use of GSA contracts, 

but rather allows State and local governments, should they find it 

is in their best interest and should vendors choose to participate 

in the program, to use these contracts under their own procurement rules and procedures. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 3179 was introduced by Representative Edolphus Towns on 

July 25, 2007 and was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform. The Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform held a markup to consider H.R. 3179 on November 8, 2007 

and ordered the bill to be reported favorably by voice vote. The 

House passed H.R. 3179 by voice vote on December 17, 2007. 


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On January 22, 2008, H.R. 3179 was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. On April 

10, 2008, the Committee considered H.R. 3179 and ordered the bill 

reported favorably without amendment. Senators present were 

Lieberman, Levin, Akaka, Carper, Landrieu, McCaskill, Tester, 

Collins, Voinovich and Sununu. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

The short title of the bill is the Local Preparedness Acquisition 

Act. 

Section 2. Authorization for acquisition of law enforcement, security, 

and certain other related items by state and local governments 

through Federal Supply Schedules 

This section amends 40 U.S.C. 502(c) to allow State and local 

governments to purchase security- and law enforcement-related 

goods and services off GSA Schedule 84 (or any amended or subsequent version of that Federal supply classification group). 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill. The Congressional Budget Office 

states that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and 

would benefit state, local, and tribal governments. Any costs those 

entities incur would be incurred voluntarily. The enactment of this 

legislation will not have significant regulatory impact. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

APRIL 14, 2008. 

Hon. JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3179, the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 3179—Local Preparedness Acquisition Act 

H.R. 3179 would allow state, local, and tribal governments to 

purchase additional goods and services at discount prices through 

federal supply schedules. Under current law, those governments 

may purchase a variety of information technologies through the 

federal supply schedules. This legislation would expand the purchasing program to include specified supplies and services for law 

enforcement, fire fighting, and other security activities. 


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Under H.R. 3179, any purchases of such supplies and services 

would be an exchange between state, local, and tribal governments 

and commercial suppliers. However, the General Services Administration (GSA) charges a 0.75 percent fee on all sales to recover the 

procurement and administrative costs of operating the supply 

schedule program. Based on information from GSA regarding the 

current cooperative program with state, local, and tribal governments for information technology services and the anticipated demand under the expanded program, CBO estimates that increasing 

the number of purchases would increase offsetting collections by 

about $2 million a year. Because such fees are spent by GSA without further appropriation, the net budgetary impact of the legislation would be negligible. 

H.R. 3179 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

benefit state, local, and tribal governments. Any costs those entities 

incur would be incurred voluntarily. 

On November 19, 2007, CBO provided a cost estimate for H.R. 

3179, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight 

and Government Reform on November 8, 2007. The two pieces of 

legislation are identical, as are their estimated costs. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford 

(for federal costs), and Elizabeth Cove (for the state and local impact). This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by H.R. 3179 as 

reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

UNITED STATES CODE 

TITLE 40—PUBLIC BUILDINGS, 

PROPERTY, AND WORKS 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 5—PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 

* * * * * * * 

§ 502 Services for other entities 

(a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(c) USE OF CERTAIN SUPPLY SCHEDULES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may provide for the use 

by State or local governments of Federal supply schedules of 

the General Services Administration ø for automated ¿ for the 

following: 


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(A) Automated data processing equipment (including 

firmware), software, supplies, support equipment, and 

services (as contained in Federal supply classification code 

group 70). 

(B) Alarm and signal systems, facility management systems, firefighting and rescue equipment, law enforcement 

and security equipment, marine craft and related equipment, special purpose clothing, and related services (as contained in Federal supply classification code group 84 or 

any amended or subsequent version of that Federal supply 

classification group). 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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