Title: Bogus Bonus Ban Act of 2019
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Bogus Bonus Ban Act of 2019
This bill directs the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with federal departments and agencies, to issue guidance, with detailed implementation instructions, on the appropriate use of award and incentive fees in department or agency programs.
The guidance shall, among other things
Any funds intended to be awarded as incentive fees that are not paid due to the inability of a contractor to meet the criteria established by this bill shall be returned to the Treasury.
The Department of the Treasury shall include award fee as a filter on USAspending.gov.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2145 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2145

 To prohibit the payment of bonuses to contractors for unsatisfactory 
                              performance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2019

  Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Braun, and Mr. Lankford) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the payment of bonuses to contractors for unsatisfactory 
                              performance.

    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 ``Bogus Bonus Ban Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. LINKING OF AWARD AND INCENTIVE FEES TO CONTRACT OUTCOMES.

    (a) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget, in coordination with the heads of Federal departments and 
agencies, shall issue guidance, with detailed implementation 
instructions (including definitions), on the appropriate use of award 
and incentive fees in department or agency programs.
    (b) Elements.--The guidance under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) ensure that all new contracts using award fees link 
        such fees to outcomes (which shall be defined in terms of 
        program cost, schedule, and performance);
            (2) establish standards for identifying the appropriate 
        level of officials authorized to approve the use of award and 
        incentive fees in new contracts;
            (3) provide guidance on the circumstances in which 
        contractor performance may be judged to be excellent or 
        superior and the percentage of the available award fee which 
        contractors should be paid for such performance;
            (4) establish standards for determining the percentage of 
        the available award fee, if any, which contractors should be 
        paid for performance that is judged to be acceptable, average, 
        expected, good, or satisfactory;
            (5) ensure that no award fee may be paid for contractor 
        performance that is judged to be below satisfactory performance 
        or performance that does not meet the basic requirements of the 
        contract;
            (6) provide specific direction on the circumstances, if 
        any, in which it may be appropriate to roll over award fees 
        that are not earned in one award fee period to a subsequent 
        award fee period or periods;
            (7) ensure that the Department or agency--
                    (A) collects relevant data on award and incentive 
                fees paid to contractors and provides for the inclusion 
                of such information, including a listing of each award 
                and incentive fee so paid, on USAspending.gov, the 
                searchable website of government spending established 
                pursuant to section 2(b) of the Federal Funding 
                Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 
                109-206; 31 U.S.C. 6101 note); and
                    (B) has mechanisms in place to evaluate such data 
                on a regular basis; and
            (8) include performance measures to evaluate the 
        effectiveness of award and incentive fees as a tool for 
        improving contractor performance and achieving desired program 
        outcomes.
    (c) Return of Unearned Bonuses.--Any funds intended to be awarded 
as incentive fees that are not paid due to the inability of a 
contractor to meet the criteria established by this section shall be 
returned to the Treasury of the United States.
    (d) Inclusion of Award Fee as Award Type Filter on 
USAspending.gov.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall include ``award 
fee'' as a filter on USAspending.gov.
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