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Senate-Passed Appropriations Bill Final Step in Providing Federal Agencies Relief from FPI
Bill Finalizes Hoekstra-Backed Provision to Temporarily Open Federal Contracting Opportunities to Competitive Bidding
Washington,
Jan 22, 2004 -
Included in the omnibus federal appropriations bill passed by the Senate on Thursday is a provision that extends to all federal agencies temporary relief from Federal Prison Industries’ (FPI) status as an exclusive source for products and services.
“We are pressing forward along every available avenue to resolve this longstanding issue,” said Hoekstra, R-Holland. “It is our continuing belief that taxpayers should not be asked to fund a government system that exploits prison labor to unfairly compete for their jobs.”
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, inserted the language in the Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2004, and the Senate passed it as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004. The House passed the bill in December. Under the provision, agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security will be able to exercise the limited authority now available only to the Department of Defense and the CIA.
For the remainder of the fiscal year, federal agencies will have the authority to determine, based on product quality and delivery schedule, whether FPI or a private sector competitor offers best value on a potential half-billion dollars in products and services.
Under its depression-era authorizing statute, FPI is the mandatory source for all federal agencies. An arm of the Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons, FPI employs more than 21,700 inmates to produce a number of products sold under the Unicor brand name, including automotive components, furniture and textiles.
In November, the House passed Hoekstra’s Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act (H.R. 1829), which phases out FPI’s “superpreference” status over five years, and companion legislation is currently awaiting action in the Senate.
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