A bill to amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to establish a governmentwide policy requiring competition in certain executive agency procurements, and for other purposes.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 28, 2007
Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require an executive agency, when procuring Federal Prison Industries (FPI) products to: (1) use competitive procedures; or (2) make an individual purchase under a multiple award contract in accordance with applicable competition requirements. Requires an agency to: (1) timely notify FPI of procurements; and (2) consider a timely offer from FPI in the same manner as other offers.
Requires agency heads to ensure that: (1) agencies do not purchase a FPI product or service unless an agency's contracting officer determines that the product or service is comparable to products or services available from the private sector that best meet the agencies' needs; and (2) FPI performs its contractual obligations to agencies to the same extent as any other contractor. Outlines exceptions to the competitive procedures requirement.
Prohibits requiring a contractor to use FPI as a subcontractor or supplier. Prohibits agencies from entering into contracts with FPI under which inmate workers would have access to classified and sensitive information. Restricts the interstate and foreign commerce of services resulting from convict labor in a prisoner work program operated by a prison or jail of a state or local jurisdiction. Subjects knowing violators of such restrictions to fine or imprisonment, or both. Requires state and local prison work programs to meet specified requirements. Provides for exemptions for services performed as part of an inmate work program conducted by a state or local government to disassemble, scrap, and recycle products, other than electronic products, that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill. Authorizes recovered scrap from such program to be sold.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jan 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.705 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.705 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.705 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.705 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.