GSA delivers reorg plan to Congress

The General Services Administration delivered its plan for the proposed Federal Acquisition Service, a merger of the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology Service, to the House and Senate appropriations committees yesterday.

“We are being responsive to a request by our oversight committees to see our plan,” acting GSA Administrator David Bibb said. “We hope for a swift and positive reaction from Congress, so that we can take on the hard task of making the new FAS a reality.”

Bibb approved the organizational design of the plan Feb. 21, according to a memo he sent Feb. 24.

In the memo, Bibb wrote that “besides the reorganization, we are also dealing with business realities. Specifically, our revenue has declined substantially in programs like IT Solutions, where cost has exceeded revenue, thus creating an unsustainable situation.”

Bibb and Marty Wagner, acting administrator for FAS, froze hiring for FTS and FSS and for general management and administration staff at the central office and in the regions.

The agency is suffering from drastic declines in revenue at FTS and is seeking early-out and buyout authority from the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget. Wagner said approval is expected in the next few weeks.

Bibb wrote in the memo that this action will reduce overhead costs for FTS and FSS.

Wagner said in a separate interview with Federal Computer Week that “inappropriate rapid growth” and a shift in agencies’ buying practices are the roots of GSA’s financial trouble.