Title: Buy Smarter and Save Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Buy Smarter and Save Act of 2017
This bill requires the President to establish, and federal agencies to implement, annual government-wide goals for agencies to reduce the number of contracts for the procurement of common goods and services, increase spend under management, and use category management to produce savings.
"Category Management" is a business practice for reducing duplication in contracting, more effectively leveraging the buying power of the federal government, and promoting the use of best-in-class solutions and practices throughout the government.
"Spend under management" is the number equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (1) the total spending on preferred government-wide contract vehicles by (2) the total spending on all government-wide contract vehicles.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4250 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4250

     To promote category management principles within the Federal 
                  Government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2017

 Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To promote category management principles within the Federal 
                  Government, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Buy Smarter and Save Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL PROCUREMENT GOALS.

    (a) Recommendations.--Beginning with the first fiscal year 
following the date of the enactment of this Act, and for each 
succeeding fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget, in consultation with the Administrator for Federal Procurement 
Policy, the Category Management Leadership Council, and a 
representative from each Executive agency that is not represented on 
the Category Management Leadership Council, shall provide the President 
with recommendations for the establishment of the following:
            (1) An annual Governmentwide goal for Executive agencies to 
        reduce the number of contracts for the procurement of common 
        goods and services.
            (2) An annual Governmentwide goal for Executive agencies to 
        increase spend under management.
            (3) An annual Governmentwide goal for Executive agencies to 
        use category management to produce savings.
    (b) Establishment.--
            (1) Governmentwide goals.--The President shall use the 
        recommendations provided under subsection (a) to establish the 
        annual Governmentwide goals described in such subsection.
            (2) Individualized goals.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), 
        the Director, in consultation with the Administrator for 
        Federal Procurement Policy and the Category Management 
        Leadership Council, may establish specific annual goals for 
        procurement and savings that are customized for an individual 
        Executive agency, which may include goals relating to contract 
        reduction and spend under management.

SEC. 3. GUIDANCE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL PROCUREMENT GOALS.

    (a) Guidance.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall develop and issue guidance, 
in accordance with the requirements described in subsection (b) and the 
considerations described in subsection (c), for Executive agencies on 
the implementation of the goals established under section 2(b).
    (b) Requirements.--The guidance issued under subsection (a) shall 
provide, at a minimum, for the following:
            (1) The maintenance of a category hierarchy for common 
        goods and services to be procured using category management, 
        consistent with the considerations described in subsection (c).
            (2) The implementation of Governmentwide standards, 
        policies, and guidelines for category management for Executive 
        agencies.
            (3) The establishment of a single authoritative source for 
        Governmentwide procurement data that enables category 
        management analytics and reporting.
            (4) The maintenance and regular update of a set of criteria 
        for, and list of, preferred Governmentwide contract vehicles.
            (5) A description of the specific data required to be 
        submitted by each Executive agency to the Director relating to 
        the implementation of the goals established under section 2(b).
            (6) Guidance on calculating and verifying annual contract 
        reduction, spend under management, and savings.
            (7) The establishment of standards for Executive agencies 
        to measure progress with respect to the implementation 
        described in paragraph (2).
    (c) Considerations.--In developing guidance under subsection (a), 
the Director shall take into consideration the application of category 
management in a manner that--
            (1) maintains a strong industrial and manufacturing base in 
        the United States;
            (2) promotes continuous effective competition;
            (3) to the greatest extent applicable, complies with the 
        Governmentwide goals for procurement contracts established 
        under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        644(g));
            (4) maintains regular consultation with and outreach to 
        entities in the private sector;
            (5) maintains consistency with international trade 
        agreements;
            (6) accounts for the benefits and costs of the procurement 
        of common goods and services;
            (7) emphasizes the procurement of common goods and services 
        that are procured routinely and in large amounts; and
            (8) facilitates the ability to conduct a spend analysis 
        under section 4(b).
    (d) Standards, Policies, and Guidelines.--Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for 
Federal Procurement Policy, in consultation with the Category 
Management Leadership Council, shall prescribe regulations or issue 
guidance as necessary to implement the Governmentwide standards, 
policies, and guidelines described in subsection (b)(2).
    (e) Annual Report.--Not later than 180 days after the end of each 
fiscal year for which a goal is established under section 2(b), the 
Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall submit to Congress a 
report on the implementation of this Act, which shall include, at a 
minimum, the following:
            (1) The progress of the Federal Government in implementing 
        the goals established under section 2(b).
            (2) An assessment of the performance of each Executive 
        agency in implementing the goals established under section 
        2(b).
            (3) The progress achieved by each Executive agency in 
        implementing category management.
            (4) Small business participation.
            (5) The state of Governmentwide procurement data in terms 
        of accuracy, accessibility, and comprehensiveness in data 
        systems such as the Federal Procurement Data System-Next 
        Generation (FPDS-NG), the System for Award Management (SAM), 
        the Contractor Performance Assessment Reports System (CPARS), 
        and Acquisition Gateway.
            (6) The list of preferred Governmentwide contract vehicles, 
        as required under subsection (b)(4).
            (7) Such findings and recommendations as the Administrator 
        considers appropriate.

SEC. 4. CATEGORY MANAGEMENT DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--The head of an Executive agency shall take the 
following actions to support category management efforts in the agency:
            (1) Establish agencywide goals for category management 
        efforts in support of the goals established under section 2(b).
            (2) Designate a category management accountability 
        official.
            (3) Issue a policy that outlines the role, authority, and 
        responsibilities of the category management accountability 
        official and category management practices for the agency.
            (4) Identify preferred multi-agency and agency-specific 
        category management vehicles in use.
            (5) Establish and regularly update utilization and spend 
        under management goals for category management efforts.
            (6) Develop standards to track and assess compliance with 
        the goals established under section 2(b), consistent with the 
        guidance issued under section 3(a).
    (b) Spend Analysis.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and in accordance with the guidance issued under 
section 3(a), the head of an Executive agency shall conduct a spend 
analysis of procurements by the agency during fiscal year 2017 to 
establish a baseline for spend under management.

SEC. 5. STUDY BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) conduct a study to assess the impact of the use of 
        Governmentwide procurement contracts and Federal supply 
        schedules on the taxpayer; and
            (2) submit to Congress a report on the results of such 
        study.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' means 
        the following:
                    (A) An Executive department (as defined in section 
                105 of title 5, United States Code).
                    (B) Environmental Protection Agency.
                    (C) National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
                    (D) Agency for International Development.
                    (E) General Services Administration.
                    (F) National Science Foundation.
                    (G) Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
                    (H) Office of Personnel Management.
                    (I) Small Business Administration.
                    (J) Social Security Administration.
            (2) Category management.--The term ``category management'' 
        means a business practice for reducing duplication in 
        contracting, more effectively leveraging the buying power of 
        the Federal Government, and promoting the use of best-in-class 
        solutions and practices throughout the Federal Government.
            (3) Common.--The term ``common'' means, when used with 
        respect to a good or service, that such good or service is--
                    (A) procured by all or most Executive agencies;
                    (B) not unique to the mission of an individual 
                Executive agency;
                    (C) interchangeable between Executive agencies; and
                    (D) generally available commercially.
            (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (5) Spend under management.--The term ``spend under 
        management'' means the number equal to the quotient obtained by 
        dividing--
                    (A) the total spending on preferred Governmentwide 
                contract vehicles; by
                    (B) the total spending on all Governmentwide 
                contract vehicles.
                                 <all>