HR-1444 : Still Just a Bill

Commonsense Contracting Act of 2015

This bill expresses the sense of Congress that, when used appropriately, with respect to federal agency procurement, an auction between a group of offerors who compete against each other by submitting offers for a contract or task or delivery order with the ability to submit revised offers with lower prices throughout the course of the auction (reverse auction) may improve the federal government's procurement of commercially available commodities by increasing competition, reducing prices, and improving opportunities for small businesses.

The Small Business Act is amended to prohibit the use of reverse auction methods for certain Small Business Administration federal procurement contracts for:

• design and construction services;
• goods purchased to protect federal employees, members of the Armed Forces, or civilians from bodily harm; or
• goods or services other than these: (1) to be awarded based on factors other than price and technical responsibility, or (2) if awarding the contract requires the contracting officer to conduct discussions with the offerors about their offer.