[House Report 110-494]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-494
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LOCAL PREPAREDNESS ACQUISITION ACT
_______
December 17, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Waxman, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3179]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 3179) to amend title 40, United
States Code, to authorize the use of Federal supply schedules
for the acquisition of law enforcement, security, and certain
other related items by State and local governments, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Legislative History.............................................. 2
Section-by-Section............................................... 2
Explanation of Amendments........................................ 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Rollcall Votes................................................... 3
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 3
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 3
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 3
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 3
Unfunded Mandates Statement...................................... 3
Earmark Identification........................................... 4
Committee Estimate............................................... 4
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate... 4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 3179, the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act, was
introduced by Rep. Towns on July 25, 2007. H.R. 3179 authorizes
state and local governments to purchase homeland security and
public safety equipment from Federal Supply Schedules of the
General Services Administration (GSA). Participation in the
cooperative purchasing program is voluntary for both state and
local governments and vendors, and requires no federal
appropriations.
Background and Need for Legislation
The GSA Federal Supply Schedules are catalogues of more
than 4 million commercial goods and services currently
available to federal agencies at negotiated discount prices.
Section 211 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347)
enacted the cooperative purchasing program, authorizing state
and local governments to purchase information technology
equipment from GSA schedules. This authority was expanded in
2006 to authorize cooperative purchasing for disaster recovery
(Pub. L. 109-364 Sec. 833). The cooperative purchasing program
has helped state and local governments save money and
streamline the acquisition process.
H.R. 3179 further expands cooperative purchasing authority
to items such as fire alarm systems, door entry control
devices, intrusion detection sensors, bomb detection equipment,
perimeter security and video surveillance systems, and other
homeland security goods and services from GSA Schedule 84.
This expanded authority will allow state and local
governments to purchase essential homeland security and public
safety goods and services under streamlined acquisition
procedures using pre-negotiated, favorable pricing.
Legislative History
H.R. 3179, legislation to amend title 40, United States
Code, to authorize the use of federal supply schedules for the
acquisition of law enforcement, security, and certain other
related items by state and local governments, was introduced on
July 25, 2007, and referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform.
The Committee held a markup to consider H.R. 3179 on
November 8, 2007, and ordered the bill to be favorably reported
by voice vote.
Section-by-Section
Section 1: Short title
The short title of the bill is the Local Preparedness
Acquisition Act.
Section 2: Authorization for acquisition of law enforcement, security,
and certain other related items by state and local governments
through Federal Supply Schedules
This section amends 40 U.S.C. 502(c) to add Federal Supply
Schedule 84 to the GSA cooperative purchasing program.
Explanation of Amendments
No amendments were adopted in Committee.
Committee Consideration
On Thursday, November 8, 2007, the Committee met in open
session and favorably ordered H.R. 3179 to be reported to the
House by a voice vote.
Rollcall Votes
No rollcall votes were held.
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch where the bill relates to terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations. The
bill does not relate to employment or access to public services
and accommodations.
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions
of this report, including improving public safety and
preparedness through streamlined acquisition of necessary
equipment.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Under clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee must include a statement
citing the specific powers granted to Congress to enact the law
proposed by H.R. 3179. Article I, section 8, clause 18 of the
Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the power
to enact this law.
Federal Advisory Committee Act
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., section 5(b).
Unfunded Mandates Statement
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, Pub. L. 104-4) requires a statement on
whether the provisions of the report include unfunded mandates.
In compliance with this requirement the Committee has received
a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included herein.
Earmark Identification
H.R. 3179 does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.
Committee Estimate
Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 3179. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received
the following cost estimate for H.R. 3179 from the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office:
November 19, 2007.
Hon. Henry A. Waxman,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3179, the Local
Preparedness Acquisition Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
Enclosure.
H.R. 3179--Local Preparedness Acquisition Act
H.R. 3179 would allow state, local, and tribal governments
to purchase more goods and services at discount prices through
federal supply schedules. Under current law, those governments
may purchase a variety of information technology through the
federal supply schedules. This legislation would expand the
cooperative purchasing program to include specified supplies
and services for law enforcement, fire fighting, and other
security activities.
Under the bill, any purchases of such supplies and services
would be an exchange between state, local, and tribal
governments and commercial suppliers. However, the General
Services Administration (GSA) charges a 0.75 percent fee on all
sales to recover the procurement and administrative costs of
operating the supply schedule program. Based on information
from GSA regarding the current cooperative program with those
governments for information technology services and the
anticipated demand under the expanded program, CBO estimates
that increasing the number of purchases would increase
offsetting collections by about $2 million a year. Because such
fees are spent by GSA, the net budgetary impact of the bill
would be negligible.
H.R. 3179 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would benefit state, local, and tribal governments. Any costs
those entities incur would be incurred voluntarily.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew
Pickford (for federal costs), and Elizabeth Cove (for the state
and local impact). This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 502 OF TITLE 40, UNITED STATES CODE
Sec. 502. Services for other entities
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(c) Use of Certain Supply Schedules.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator may provide for
the use by State or local governments of Federal supply
schedules of the General Services Administration [for
automated] for the following:
(A) Automated data processing equipment
(including firmware), software, supplies,
support equipment, and services (as contained
in Federal supply classification code group
70).
(B) Alarm and signal systems, facility
management systems, firefighting and rescue
equipment, law enforcement and security
equipment, marine craft and related equipment,
special purpose clothing, and related services
(as contained in Federal supply classification
code group 84 or any amended or subsequent
version of that Federal supply classification
group).
* * * * * * *