Does It Really Take 15 Years to Evaluate The Efficacy of Reform?

Abstract

Acquisition reform initiatives fundamentally transformed the protocols and processes the U.S. federal government utilizes to procure billions of dollars worth of goods and services every year. Reforms provided under the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) and the Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA), along with ensuing regulatory provisions in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), created more business-to-business–like contracting procedures. One such procedure is the FAR 13.5 “Test Program for Commercial Items.” FAR 13.5 allows the utilization of simplified acquisition procedures for all commercialitem- designated goods and services up to and including $6.5 million.