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                         November 2, 2001

Some agencies can miss outsourcing targets, OBM says

WASHINGTON (govexec.com) -- The Bush administration will allow some agencies to fall short of a target for opening federal jobs to private sector competition, the government’s top procurement official said Monday.

Angela Styles, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget, said some agencies would not be required to meet 2002 targets.

"I don’t want the 5 percent goal to result in poor management decisions," said Styles at a conference sponsored by the A-76 Institute. "If it means some agencies are at 4 percent, and some agencies are at 6 percent, that’s OK."

Styles’ comments amend a March memorandum from OMB Deputy Director Sean O’Keefe, which set the 5 percent target as a baseline all agencies should meet. In July, White House budget director Mitch Daniels said OMB would push some agencies to exceed the 5 percent goal.

Governmentwide, agencies are still required to compete 5 percent or 42,500 jobs by September 2002, but OMB will press certain agencies to surpass the target while allowing others to fall short, Styles said. An additional OMB requirement that agencies compete 10 percent of their jobs by the end of fiscal 2003 is also a cumulative goal, according to Styles.

"I want to emphasize that the goals are aggregate in nature throughout government," she said, citing the Department of Veterans Affairs as an agency that will be allowed to fall short of the 5 percent target. The VA classifies almost 90 percent of its jobs as commercial-in-nature, making it a tall order to compete 5 percent by September 2002.