Small Business: Trends in Federal Procurement in the 1990s
Published: 2001-01-18T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: This report focuses on the trends in federal procurement for small businesses during the 1990s.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Some organizations that represent small businesses and others have expressed concerns over acquisition reforms in the mid-1990s that may have reduced the opportunities for small businesses to compete for federal government contracts. These reforms sought to streamline acquisition processes to help government acquire goods and services more efficiently. The reforms included provisions to facilitate greater use of some types of contracts. However, small business representatives believe that some of these reforms could make it difficult for small businesses to compete for federal contracts. For example, the Clinger-Cohen Act authorizes the use of multiagency contracts. These contracts could potentially consolidate agencies' requirements, which small businesses may not be able to meet. At the same time, some procurement reforms have benefited small businesses. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, for example, increased the value of contracts set aside exclusively for small business participation. In addition, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 increased the percentage of federal contracts to be awarded to small businesses to 23 percent. Small Business Administration data indicate that federal agencies met the legislative goal for procurement from small businesses from fiscal years 1993 to 1999.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The federal government spends about $200 billion annually on the  acquisition of goods and services and has established a legislative goal to  provide at least a 23 percent share of these expenditures to small  businesses. Some organizations that represent small businesses and others  have expressed concerns that acquisition reforms in the mid-1990s may  have reduced the opportunities for small businesses to compete for federal  government contracts. These reforms focused on streamlining acquisition  processes to improve the government's capacity to acquire goods and  services in a more efficient manner. The reforms included provisions to  facilitate the increased use of certain types of contracts.
Concerned about the potential effect of these reforms on small businesses,  you asked us in your capacities as Chairman of the Subcommittee on  Government Management, Information, and Technology and as a Member  of the Subcommittee, to determine if there were any changes in the ability  of small businesses to obtain government contracts following the  implementation of the reforms and other changes in the acquisition  environment during the 1990s. Specifically, we agreed to address (1)  provisions in acquisition reform legislation enacted in the 1990s and other  changes in procurement that took place during this time that could affect  small business contractors and (2) trends that might indicate possible  shifts in the ability of small businesses to obtain federal contracts in the  1990s. To identify the provisions of acquisition reform legislation and  possible shifts in procurement from small businesses, we analyzed key  legislative reforms and other changes and obtained the views of  representatives of several associations representing small businesses. To  determine the trends in federal procurement from small businesses, we  analyzed data from the General Services Administration's Federal  Procurement Data Center (FPDC), which collects procurement  information from federal agencies.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: The federal government buys a myriad of goods and services from  contractors. Federal agency acquisitions must be conducted in accordance  with a set of statutes and regulations designed to accomplish several  objectives, including full and open competition and various social and  economic goals, such as encouraging small business participation. In the  late 1980s and early 1990s, some became convinced that the federal  procurement system had become complex, unwieldy, and overwrought  with tension between the basic goals of efficiency and fairness because of a  proliferation of requirements governing almost every aspect of the  acquisition process. In this environment, there were concerns about the  government's ability to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by  the commercial marketplace. In response to these concerns, Congress  enacted two major pieces of reform legislation, FASA and Clinger-Cohen,  aimed at creating a more efficient and responsive federal acquisition  system. Concerns remain about whether the changes brought about by  acquisition reform during the 1990s have come at the expense of placing  small business at a disadvantage.
section_title: Legislative and Other Changes That Could Affect the Ability of Small Businesses to Obtain Federal Contracts
paragraphs: The federal procurement process underwent many legislative and  administrative changes during the 1990s, some of which have the potential  to affect the ability of small businesses to obtain federal contracts. Other  changes occurred during this time, such as reductions in the amount the  government spent on goods and services and the size of its acquisition  workforce, which agency officials believe have also encouraged  procurement streamlining. These changes included the use of certain  contract vehicles, such as MACs. In addition, reforms have modified the  dollar range of contracts that are reserved for small businesses and  encouraged the use of purchase cards, which are similar to corporate  credit cards, for the use of certain purchases. Some organizations that  represent small businesses are concerned that these changes could  potentially erode the ability of small businesses to receive federal  contracts.
subsections: section_title: Other Factors Have Affected Federal Procurement Practices
paragraphs: At the same time that acquisition reform legislation was enacted, other  factors changed how much the federal government bought as well as the  way it buys goods and services. During the 1990s, the federal government  decreased the amount spent on goods and services and downsized the  acquisition workforce.
The total amount of goods and services that the government purchased,  including those bought with purchase cards, declined by about 7 percent  from an inflation-adjusted $224 billion in fiscal year 1993 to $209 billion in  fiscal year 1999. Consequently, all businesses had to compete for a reduced  total of federal contract expenditures. Figure 2 shows the trend in total  federal procurement expenditures during this period.
Federal agencies also reduced their acquisition workforce personnel from  165,739 in fiscal year 1990 to 128,649 in fiscal year 1998, or approximately  22 percent, during this time, with many of these reductions taking place at  the Department of Defense (DOD). According to agency officials,  contracting officials have sought ways to streamline procurement practices  within the applicable statutes and regulations partly as a result of these  workforce reductions; this includes the use of previously authorized  contracting vehicles such as blanket purchase agreements (BPA),  indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts, and GSA federal  supply schedule contracts. Appendix I provides a description of these  contract vehicles.
Contract bundling is an acquisition practice that received a lot of attention  in the 1990s and is often associated with but, in fact, is not actually  contained in acquisition reform legislation enacted during this period.  Federal agencies combine existing contracts into fewer contracts as a  means of streamlining as well as reducing procurement and contract  administration costs, a practice generally referred to as “contract  consolidation.” A subset of consolidated contracts is “bundled contracts”  that the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 defines as the  consolidation of two or more procurement requirements for goods or  services previously provided or performed under separate, smaller  contracts into a solicitation of offers for a single contract that is likely to be  unsuitable for award to a small business concern due to  the diversity, size, or specialized nature of the elements of the   the aggregate dollar value of the anticipated award;  the geographic dispersion of contract performance sites; or  any combination of these three criteria.
This act requires each federal agency, to the maximum extent practicable,  to (1) promote participation of small businesses by structuring its  contracting requirements to facilitate competition by and among small  businesses and (2) avoid the unnecessary and unjustified bundling of  contracts that are likely to be unsuitable for small business participation as  prime contractors.
Federal policy has also encouraged the use of governmentwide commercial  purchase cards for micropurchases. The purchase card, issued to a broad  range of authorized agency personnel to acquire and pay for goods and  services, is similar in nature to a corporate credit card and is the preferred  method for purchases of $2,500 or less. Some organizations that represent  small businesses believe that the purchase card makes it easier for  government personnel to make purchases from sources other than small  businesses because that may be more convenient for the purchaser.
section_title: Small Businesses Continued to Achieve the Federal Procurement Goal in The 1990s, Although Their Share Has Decreased Slightly
paragraphs: Small businesses, as a group, have received the legislatively mandated goal  for federal contract expenditures each fiscal year from 1993 to 1999.  Between fiscal years 1993 and 1997, when the legislative goal was at least  20 percent, small businesses received between 24 and 25 percent of total  federal contract expenditures. In both fiscal years 1998 and 1999, when the  goal increased to 23 percent, small businesses received 23 percent of total  federal contract expenditures. Focusing on expenditures for new contracts  worth over $25,000, our analysis shows that small businesses have received  between 25 and 28 percent of these expenditures during this period. In  addition, focusing on the various categories of goods and services that the  federal government purchases, small businesses received a higher share in  fiscal year 1999 of expenditures in new contracts for most categories of  goods and services than they did in fiscal year 1993. Several contract  vehicles accounted for about one quarter of all governmentwide  expenditures for contracts over $25,000 in fiscal year 1999, and small  businesses received between 26 and 55 percent of expenditures for these  contract vehicles in that year. We could not determine the amount or  impact of contract bundling or the impact of the increased use of  government purchase cards on small businesses. Although FASA requires  that contracts over $2,500 up to $100,000 generally be reserved exclusively  for small businesses, we could not determine the amount of expenditures  for these contracts because, in some cases, information is reported to  FPDC on contracts together with modifications.
subsections: section_title: Federal Government Is Meeting Small Business Procurement Goal
paragraphs: SBA and FPDC data indicate that federal agencies, as a whole, have met  their annual governmentwide small business procurement goal from fiscal  years 1993 to 1999. This legislative goal increased from at least 20 percent  of total federal contract expenditures to 23 percent effective fiscal year  1998. Between fiscal years 1993 and 1997, when the legislative goal was at  least 20 percent, small businesses received between 24 and 25 percent of total federal contract expenditures. In fiscal years 1998 and 1999, when  the legislative goal increased to 23 percent, small businesses received 23 percent of total federal contract expenditures. Figure 3 shows the  share of total federal contract expenditures going to small businesses for  this period.
Under the Small Business Act, SBA has authority to prescribe a method to  measure the participation of small businesses in federal procurement. In  calculating the actual achievement of small business procurement goals for  individual federal agencies, SBA excludes certain categories of  procurements from the base, or denominator. SBA has identified several  categories of procurements that are excluded from the base because SBA  officials believe that small businesses do not have a reasonable opportunity  to compete for them, including (1) foreign military sales; (2) procurement  awarded and performed outside the United States; (3) purchases from  mandatory sources of supplies as listed in the Federal Acquisition  Regulation; and (4) purchases for specific programs from the Departments  of State, Transportation, and the Treasury.
SBA's Office of Advocacy disagrees with SBA's approach of excluding  categories of procurements in establishing the base. Adding back the  categories of procurement that SBA excluded, the Office of Advocacy  reported that small businesses received about 21 percent of total federal  procurement in fiscal year 1998 (rather than the 23 percent that SBA  reported) and that, therefore, the governmentwide goal for small business  procurement was not met in fiscal year 1998.
Some organizations that represent small businesses have expressed  concerns that small businesses are at a disadvantage when competing for  new federal contracts. Therefore, we analyzed the share of expenditures  for new contracts going to small businesses. These data do not include  modifications to existing contracts, which account for approximately half  of all governmentwide procurement expenditures during this time. Our  analysis of FPDS data of new contract expenditures shows that small  businesses have received between 25 and 28 percent of such expenditures  for contracts worth more than $25,000 between fiscal years 1993 and 1999.  Figure 4 shows the results of our analysis. In calculating the share of total  expenditures on new contracts going to small businesses from fiscal years  1993 to 1999, we used FPDC data on expenditures for new contracts worth  more than $25,000 and did not exclude the types of expenditures that SBA  excludes to calculate the small business procurement goal.
As noted in figure 2, the federal government has been spending less money  on goods and services since fiscal year 1993. The only categories of goods  and services that experienced increases in governmentwide purchases on  new contracts worth more than $25,000 between fiscal years 1993 and 1999  were real property and other services. Despite this overall decline in  contract purchases, small businesses received a higher share in fiscal year  1999 than in fiscal year 1993 of expenditures on new contracts worth  $25,000 or more than for 5 of the 8 categories of goods and services of government procurement: equipment, research and development,  architect and engineering, automatic data processing services, and other  services. Figure 5 shows governmentwide trends for purchases under new  contracts of goods and services worth more than $25,000 and the share of  these purchases going to small businesses.
We analyzed FPDS data on the governmentwide use of certain contract  vehicles for contracts over $25,000, including those that became popular  during the 1990s. We found that these vehicles represent a small but  growing share of federal procurement expenditures. Because FPDS only  captures data for some of these contract vehicles, we had to limit our  analysis to MACs, IDIQs, BPAs, and GSA schedules.
Expenditures for the four types of contract vehicles we analyzed  represented 25 percent of federal procurement expenditures on contracts  over $25,000 in fiscal year 1999, compared with 16 percent in fiscal year  1994. Small businesses received 32 percent of expenditures for these  contract vehicles in fiscal year 1999 compared with 24 percent in fiscal year  1994.
For each of the four types of contract vehicles in our analysis, the share of  expenditures going to small businesses was between 26 and 55 percent in  fiscal year 1999, depending on the type of contract vehicle. For example,  expenditures going to small businesses for MACs increased from  $524 million in fiscal year 1994, or 8 percent of all expenditures for MACs,  to $2 billion in fiscal year 1999, or 26 percent of all expenditures for MACs.  Expenditures going to small businesses for IDIQs from fiscal years 1994 to  1999 remained relatively stable, near $7 billion. The percentage of total  expenditures for IDIQs going to small businesses increased from  24 percent of total expenditures for IDIQs in fiscal year 1994 to 28 percent  in 1999. The small business share of GSA schedules increased from  27 percent in fiscal year 1994 to 36 percent in fiscal year 1999, from  $523 million to $3 billion. Finally, the small business share of BPAs fell from  97 percent in fiscal year 1994 to about 55 percent in fiscal year 1999,  although the expenditures increased for small businesses from about  $141 million in fiscal year 1994 to about $2 billion in fiscal year 1999.
section_title: Data on Contract Bundling and Its Effect on Small Businesses Are Very Limited
paragraphs: In conducting a review of contract bundling in 2000, we found that there  are only limited governmentwide data on the extent of contract bundling  and its actual effect on small businesses. Federal agencies do not currently  report information on contract bundling to FPDC; therefore, FPDC does  not have data on this topic. Our review of consolidated contracts worth  $12.4 billion at 3 procurement centers showed that the number of  contractors and the contract dollars were generally reduced due to  consolidation as agencies sought to streamline procurement and reduce its  associated administrative costs. SBA determined that the consolidation of  the contracts we reviewed did not necessarily constitute bundling. In fact, 2  of the largest consolidated contracts involved only large businesses and the  remaining 11 consolidated contracts were awarded to small businesses.
section_title: Purchase Card Expenditures Are Increasing
paragraphs: We analyzed the total amount of governmentwide purchase-card  expenditures for fiscal years 1993 to 1999 and found that in fiscal year 1999  such expenditures totaled $10 billion, or about 5 percent, of all federal  procurement purchases. As figure 6 shows, these purchases have steadily  increased since 1993, when the total amount bought with purchase cards  was $527 million. These data include expenditures for all purchase-card  transactions, both under and over $2,500.
FASA permits purchases for goods or services up to $2,500 from any  qualified suppliers. Since FPDS does not collect detailed data on purchase- card expenditures, we could not determine what share of such  governmentwide expenditures are going to small businesses.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
paragraphs: We requested comments on a draft of this report from the Administrator of  SBA, the Director of OMB, and the Administrator of GSA. SBA's Chief  Operating Officer provided written comments in concurrence with our  report. She pointed out that preliminary data for fiscal year 2000 show that  federal agencies are finding it more difficult to meet the legislative goal of  ensuring that 23 percent of the value of federal prime contracts go to small  businesses. We did not include data for fiscal year 2000 in our review  because these data are preliminary. Another area of concern was that since  detailed data on purchase-card expenditures are not included in the FPDS  database, trend analyses of these expenditures were not included in our  report. As we note in our report, purchase-card expenditures have  increased, but data are not available to determine the share of these  purchases going to small businesses. In addition, SBA's Chief Operating  Officer made several technical comments that we have reflected in this  report, as appropriate.
Officials from GSA's Offices of Enterprise Development and  Governmentwide Policy provided technical comments that we have  addressed in this report, as appropriate. OMB had no comments on our  draft report. The comments we received from SBA are in appendix III.
section_title: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: To identify procurement changes that could affect small business  contractors, we reviewed FASA, the Clinger-Cohen Act, the Small Business  Reauthorization Act of 1997, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation. We  also identified other changes that occurred during the 1990s that might  have an effect on small businesses by interviewing agency officials and  representatives of industry associations, and by reviewing agency  documents. We met with officials from GSA, SBA, OMB's Office of Federal  Procurement Policy (OFPP), and the Procurement Executives Council. We  also met with representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small  Business Legislative Council, and Independent Office Products and  Furniture Dealers Association.
To determine the trends in federal procurement from small businesses, we  analyzed data from the Federal Procurement Data Center's (FPDC) Federal  Procurement Report for fiscal years 1993 through 1999 and other data we  requested from FPDC and SBA for those same years. FPDC administers the  Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) within GSA. Since FPDC relies  on federal agencies to report their procurement information, these data are  only as reliable, accurate, and complete as the agencies report. In 1998,  FPDC conducted an accuracy audit and reported that the average rate of  accurate reporting in the FPDS database was 96 percent. Our analyses  focused on total contract expenditures for federal procurement and the  percentage of expenditures going to small businesses for new contracts  and for certain contract vehicles. Unless otherwise noted, all expenditures  were adjusted for inflation and represent constant fiscal year 1999 dollars.
We conducted our review between March and October 2000 in accordance  with generally accepted government auditing standards. A detailed  discussion of our objectives, scope, and methodology is presented in  appendix II.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents  earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report for 30 days. At that  point, copies of this report will be sent to appropriate congressional  committees and other interested Members of Congress; the Administrator  of the Small Business Administration; the Administrator of the General  Services Administration; the Director of the Office of Management and  Budget; and other interested parties. We will also make copies available to  others on request.
Staff acknowledgements are listed in appendix IV. If you or your staff have  any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-8984 or  Hilary Sullivan at (214) 777-5652.
section_title: Descriptions Of Contract Vehicles
paragraphs: Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity Contract: This type of contract  provides for an indefinite quantity, within stated limits, of goods or services  during a fixed period of time. Agencies place separate task or delivery  orders for individual requirements that specify the quantity and delivery  terms associated with each order. The Federal Acquisition Regulation  (FAR) expresses a preference for multiple awards of these contracts,  which allows orders to be placed using a streamlined, commercial style  selection process where consideration is limited to the contract awardees.  The competition between the multiple awardees is designed to encourage  better prices and responses than if the agency were negotiating with a  single contractor. Contractors are to be afforded a fair opportunity to be  considered for award of task and delivery orders but cannot generally  protest the award of such orders. Indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity  contracts include GWACs and GSA federal supply schedule contracts.
Federal Supply Schedules: Under the schedule program, GSA enters into  indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts with commercial firms to  provide commercial goods and services governmentwide at stated prices  for given periods of time. Authorized buyers at agencies place separate  orders for individual requirements that specify the quantity and delivery  terms associated with each order, and the contractor delivers products or  services directly to the agency. The program is designed to provide federal  agencies with a simplified process for obtaining millions of commonly used  commercial supplies and services at prices associated with volume buying.  The program consists of single award schedules with one supplier and  multiple award schedules, in which GSA awards contracts to multiple  companies supplying comparable services and products, often at varying  prices. When agency requirements are to be satisfied through the use of  multiple award schedules, the small business provisions (such as the  exclusive reservation for small businesses for contracts over $2,500 up to  $100,000) of the FAR do not apply.
Blanket Purchase Agreement: A simplified method of filling anticipated  repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing “charge accounts”  with qualified sources of supply, and may include federal supply schedule  contractors. Under such an agreement, the contractor and the agency agree  to contract clauses applying to future orders between the parties during its  term. Future orders would incorporate, by reference or attachment,  clauses covering purchase limitations, authorized individuals, itemized lists  of supplies or services furnished, date of delivery or shipments, billing  procedures, and discounts. Under the FAR, the existence of a blanket  purchase agreement does not justify purchasing from only one source or  avoiding small business preferences.
section_title: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
paragraphs: Our objectives were to identify (1) provisions in acquisition reform  legislation enacted in the 1990s and other changes in procurement taking  place during this time that could affect small business contractors and (2)  trends that might indicate possible shifts in the ability of small businesses  to obtain federal contracts in the 1990s.
To achieve our first objective, we analyzed several pieces of legislation  enacted in the 1990s, federal acquisition regulations, governmentwide  procurement data, and interviewed federal officials at several agencies. We  examined the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA), the  Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997,  and the Federal Acquisition Regulation. We analyzed governmentwide  procurement data reported by GSA's Federal Procurement Data Center  (FPDC) and data on the governmentwide acquisition workforce reported  by GSA's Federal Acquisition Institute in its Report on the Federal  Acquisition Workforce for fiscal years 1991 and 1998. We interviewed  officials at GSA, OFPP, SBA, and the Procurement Executives Council. We  also interviewed representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small  Business Legislative Council, and Independent Office Products and  Furniture Dealers Association.
To achieve our second objective, we gathered governmentwide data on  federal procurement from FPDC and SBA for fiscal years 1993 through  1999. We could not determine the direct impact of legislative changes and  other trends on small businesses because of the numerous concurrent  factors and the insufficiency of governmentwide data to directly measure  the effect of these changes on small business contractors. Federal agencies  report procurement data to FPDC in two categories, (1) contract awards of  $25,000 or less each and (2) contract awards greater than $25,000. Each  agency reports summary data on contracts worth $25,000 or less to FPDC  and includes information such as type of contractor and procurement  methods. Agencies report greater detail on each individual contract over  $25,000 or more, including type of contract action, type of contractor, and  product or service purchased. We analyzed aggregate data reported in  FPDC's Federal Procurement Report for each of the years. We requested  additional data from FPDC for contracts over $25,000 to include  information on expenditures going to small businesses for new contracts;  total expenditures going to small businesses, including for new contracts  and contract modifications, for specific contract vehicles; and  expenditures going to small businesses for new contracts for all products  and services. The data on new contracts that FPDC provided includes  expenditures on original contract actions, as opposed to expenditures on  modifications to existing contracts.
FPDC categorizes all federal contract expenditures into eight broad  categories of products and services. According to FPDC officials, FPDS is  updated constantly as federal agencies report updated procurement  information. The data we received from FPDC are as of July 2000. In  addition, we analyzed the summary information on government purchase- card transactions from the Federal Procurement Report for each year. We  also collected data from SBA and FPDC on the achievement of the  governmentwide federal procurement goal for small businesses. The SBA  data on the achievement of this goal for fiscal years 1993 through 1997 are  from The State of Small Business. Because the most recent version The  State of Small Business was published in fiscal year 1997, we used FPDC  data published in its annual Federal Procurement Report on the  achievement of the legislative goal for fiscal years 1998 and 1999. As  indicated earlier, SBA began using FPDS data to calculate the achievement  of the small business legislative goal as of fiscal year 1998. Although FASA  requires that contracts over $2,500 up to $100,000 be exclusively reserved  for small businesses, we could not determine the amount of expenditures  or share going to small businesses for these contracts because, in some  cases, information is reported to FPDC on contracts commingled with  modifications. Unless otherwise noted, we adjusted all dollar amounts  using a gross domestic product price index from the Bureau of Economic  Analysis using fiscal year 1999 as the base year.
We did not independently verify FPDC or SBA data. FPDC relies on  agencies to report their procurement information. Therefore, data are only  as reliable, accurate, and complete as the agencies report. In 1998,  however, FPDC conducted an accuracy audit of some of its data elements  and reported that the average rate of accurate reporting in the FPDS  database was 96 percent.
We performed our work at SBA headquarters, OFPP, and GSA  headquarters. We conducted our review between March and October 2000  in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
section_title: Comments From SBA
section_title: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgements
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Acknowledgements
paragraphs: Jason Bair, William Chatlos, James Higgins, Maria Santos, Adam Vodraska,  and Wendy Wilson made key contributions to this report.
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