The Senate has approved a bipartisan bill that would direct federal agencies to identify potential conflicts of interest between taxpayer-backed projects and other business opportunities of contractors.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, co-authored the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act with Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Hassan’s office said Wednesday.
The legislation, which is now headed to the House, would require federal contractors to disclose other business relationships that conflict with their government work and direct agencies to evaluate and update their procedures for determining potential conflicts of interest among contractors.
The measure would direct the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to come up with its updated definition of organizational conflicts of interest and provide agencies with language to prevent such conflicts in their contracts and solicitations.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill’s implementation would cost approximately $1 million between 2023 and 2027 to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation and for agencies to achieve compliance.
