Please do not use your government e-mail address when filling out this form.

AFGE has its own job creation plan and it's focused on bringing currently contracted jobs out back in-house. The first big step in creating good government jobs, with fair wages and benefits is to pass legislation in Congress that would clean up the waste, fraud and abuse in government contracting. First, we must pass the CLEAN UP Act (S. 924/H.R. 2736), which was introduced in the United States Senate on April 29, 2009 by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and in the United States House of Representatives on June 4, 2009 by Rep. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). This bill would require agencies to identify which jobs have been contracted and and to come up with a plan to bring those jobs back in-house if they should actually be performed by government employees. It also protects existing jobs by banning new A-76 (contracting out) studies until major reforms have been enacted government-wide. 

Please use the form below send a letter to your senators and representative and ask them to support the legislation that reforms the A-76 process.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Congress has several efforts underway, which I strongly urge you to support on the floor, in committee, and in conference:

FY10 Financial Services Appropriations (H.R. 3170, S. 1432): The House and Senate bills include identical provisions that would continue to prohibit all agencies from starting OMB Circular A-76 privatization studies because of the need to correct problems identified by the GAO and the DoD Inspector General, including the inability to track costs and savings, the failure to consider significant costs, and the inflation of in-house costs. (House Section 734, Senate Section 734)

Both bills include provisions that would require agencies other than DoD to establish inventories of their service contracts so that agencies can more easily contain costs and more carefully target insourcing. (House Section 743, Senate Section 735) I urge you to support the inclusion of these two provisions in the conference report.

Correction of Long-standing Errors in Agencies Unsustainable Procurements Act (S. 924, H.R. 2736): Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Sarbanes have introduced the CLEAN UP Act, legislation that would, consistent with the approach already taken by the Congress, suspend the use of the OMB Circular A-76 privatization process until it has been reformed; ensure that jobs that are inherently governmental are performed by federal employees; encourage agencies to give federal employees opportunities to perform new work; and require agencies to establish inventories of contracts to track costs and performance. I urge you to cosponsor this legislation.

FY10 Defense Appropriations (H.R. 3326): DoD is continuing to carry out privatization studies started in the previous Administration. The case for shutting down pending privatization studies is even more compelling than the case for prohibiting new privatization studies because many if not all of the pending studies were begun only to achieve a political quota. H.R 3326 includes a provision that would shut down all pending privatization studies. (Section 8118) I urge you to support the inclusion of the House provision in the conference report.

FY10 Defense Authorization (H.R. 2647, S. 1390): The House and Senate bills would forbid DoD from starting new privatization studies, the House bill for three years and the Senate bill until DoD finally complies with a requirement to establish an inventory of its service contractors. (House Section 327, Senate Section 323) The Senate provision is well-intentioned, but the House provision would allow for all of the problems in the OMB Circular A-76 process to be fixed. I urge you to support the inclusion of the House provision in the conference report.

Privatization studies are costly to conduct. Both the House and Senate bills would impose time limits on how long privatization studies can last, the House bill for 18 months and the Senate bill for 36 months. (House Section 322, Senate Section 323B) The previous Administration when it rewrote the A-76 process insisted that privatization studies should normally last no longer than 12 to 18 months. 36 months is plainly excessive - leaving federal employees in limbo longer and costing taxpayers much more than is necessary. I urge you to support the inclusion of the House provision in the conference report.

During the previous Administration, federal employees received the right comparable to what contractors have long enjoyed to seek GAO review of agencies' contracting decisions. However, GAO has said that the law enacted is defective and that federal employees threatened by privatization aren't being given the same information as contractors. The House bill includes two provisions that would clarify GAO's jurisdiction and provide affected federal employees with information about agencies' contracting out decisions.(Sections 328 and 329) I urge you to support their inclusion in the conference report.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
August 13, 2009