In a year-end victory, four federal contractor debarment proposals(Opens in a new window) to eliminate non-union contractors from bids for violations—or allegations of violations— of the Fair Labor Standards Act and National Labor Relations Actwere removed as the House and Senate reconciled their versions of the bill.
Prior to negotiations, HR Policy sent a letter of opposition and conducted meetings with key Hill staff urging that the proposals be excluded from a final bill.
Focus on debarments to continue: The House and Senate conference committee, which negotiated the final NDAA bill text, issued a Joint Explanatory Statement(Opens in a new window) in which Congress:
- Directed the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) to post its report titled “Congressionally Mandated Study on Contractor Debarments for Violations of U.S. Labor Laws” on its website, and
- Encouraged the Department of Defense to co-host a conference with AIRC including participants from government, industry, and academia, and create a summary of such conference, to improve reporting processes and understanding of labor violations within the existing statutory and regulatory framework.
HR Policy Association plans to participate in the conference with AIRC once the opportunity is announced.
Outlook: The Senate is expected to pass the NDAA next week, sending it to President Biden to sign into law.