GSA issues major changes to Multiple Awards Schedule program
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By
Frank Konkel
Contracts that do not meet sales thresholds will be allowed to expire, among other changes introduced through a new initiative.
The General Services Administration on Monday notified contractors of major changes to its Multiple Awards Schedule program, a commercial acquisition program responsible for sales of $51.5 billion last year.
According to an email sent Monday by Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, the changes were introduced through an initiative to “rightsize” the program. Changes include: Allowing MAS contracts that do not meet sales thresholds to expire; addressing contractor non-compliance and performance concerns; simplifying processes, eliminating inefficiencies and ensuring proper alignment of management and oversight; eliminating items with insufficient market demand or where administrative costs outweigh benefits; and reducing redundancies with other government procurement channels.
The changes impact thousands of government contractors that sell their vetted offerings to federal agencies at pre-negotiated prices, with competition among vendors at the order level to generate additional government savings.
“FAS takes seriously its responsibility to the American taxpayer, and rightsizing the MAS Program is a significant opportunity for us to prioritize value and fiscal responsibility in contracting," Gruenbaum said in an email. “With these actions, we can put our agency resources where they get the most impactful return on investment — and that means the goods and services that are most in demand by federal customers.”
The MAS initiative comes on the same day the agency will announce significant changes to its FedRAMP program and follows several weeks of major changes across GSA that will directly impact the agency and contractors.
On Friday, the agency named Michael Lynch as its new deputy administrator. In late February, GSA announced a review of consultancies that has large ramifications across the government contracting space. Last week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order signaling the agency may “quadruple” in size and centralize procurement across the federal ranks within GSA. The agency also signaled it would step up enforcement action of contractors that do not meet contract thresholds.
This story is breaking and may be updated.