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Monday, July 14, 2008
Congress Moves Toward Suspending Competitive Sourcing
 If signed into law, the FY 2009 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee would stop the Executive from joining the race to the bottom for cheap labor.
The Senate panel passed the one-year moratorium on public-private job competitions on Thursday as part of the $44.8 billion fiscal 2009 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. The provision essentially would leave it to the next presidential administration to continue the program, which opens jobs that traditionally have been performed by federal employees to bids from contractors.
The House Appropriations Committee passed an identical measure last month when it considered the spending bill. The House version of the fiscal 2009 Defense Department Authorization bill goes even further, banning all new public-private competitions conducted under the rules in the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 for three years.
The fact is, the only "advantage" that competitive sourcing has over government provision of services is that private contractors create lower-paying paying jobs with no health care coverage or retirement benefits to carry out government functions. So, sure, the government could theoretically save a few bucks from competitive outsourcing, but the savings are extracted from the public it serves by shredding thousands of good jobs.
Posted by Craig Jennings
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