In the chaos of government Q4 of the Fiscal Year, contractors are focused on responding to federal opportunities, but may be missing out on key state and local government opportunities as well. There’s a common misconception that contractors can only sell to the federal government through a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract. Along with a list of eligible national and international organizations, GSA contractors can also sell to state and local government as well as tribal governments and certain educational institutions through certain purchasing programs. Most state governments end on June 30 or September 30, meaning now's the time to be searching for these opportunities.
Our clients often ask us who they can sell to beyond federal agencies, so in this blog, we’ll highlight GSA specific and other state and local purchasing vehicles GSA contractors can use to expand their customer base.
GSA State and Local Government Purchasing Programs
The Cooperative Purchasing Program
Through the Cooperative Purchasing Program, state and local government entities can purchase IT, law enforcement, and security products and solutions under Large Categories F and J in the MAS program. Large Category F hosts all the IT related products and services, and Large Category J is for Security and Protection solutions.
State, local, and tribal governments as well as certain educational institutions can purchase from this program at any time using any funds available. Eligible educational institutions include public elementary, middle, and high schools, and public colleges and universities.
This program is voluntary, so you are not required to accept any orders in this program. Contractors who sell under Large Categories F and/or J are qualified to sell under Cooperative Purchasing. To find out if you are in the program, you can look for this logo in GSA eLibrary under your Special Item Numbers (SINS).
The Disaster Purchasing Program
Unlike Cooperative Purchasing, the Disaster Purchasing Program has a wider-scope, and is applicable to all GSA Schedule Large Categories. This program allows state and local government to buy supplies and services to facilitate disaster preparation, response, or major disaster recovery.
Products and services can be purchased for both natural and manmade disasters including acts of terrorism, nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks, but there must be a declaration under the Stafford Act first. The Stafford Act constitutes the authority for most federal disaster response activities, but once declared can open up to state and local entities.
Who exactly can purchase from this program? Disaster Purchasing applies to state, local, regional, tribal, educational institutions. Educational institutions include local public elementary, middle, and high schools, public charter school programs, and public universities.
This program is voluntary and can easily be added on to your Schedule through a contract modification. If you want to learn more about when this program is enacted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages the list of declared disasters.
Public Health Emergencies Program
If a federal public health emergency is declared, non-federal entities can buy from all Schedules when spending federal grants funds under the Public Health Emergencies (PHE) Program. This program is managed by GSA and the Department of Human and Health Services (HHS).
It's important to note that state, local, tribal, and territorial governments can purchase from this program, but not educational institutions. That’s why you should always check who is eligible to purchase from these programs, because there are stipulations for each one.
Similar to Disaster Purchasing and the Stafford Act, Public Health Emergencies must be declared by the HHS under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act for non-federal entities to use GSA MAS program in support of their missions.
Although participants in the PHE program can purchase from all Schedules, the scope is limited compared to Cooperative and Disaster Purchasing. As with the other programs, this one is voluntary.
1122 Program
The 1122 Program allows contractors to sell products and services to state and local governments in support of counter-drug, homeland security, and emergency response activities.
The 1122 Program is owned and managed by the Department of Defense (DoD) in conjunction with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and GSA.
Eligible entities include states such as D.C., the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other U.S. territory. However, not all states participate. 32 states and Puerto Rico are currently a part of this program. To see if your state participates, you can check the State Point of Contact List.
State Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contracts
The California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS)
The California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS) is an enrollment contract that uses the awarded terms and conditions and pricing of your GSA MAS contract. California state and local governments, municipalities, and school districts including public universities can purchase from a CMAS vehicle.
CMAS doesn’t allow for all scopes of work. Available types of products/services include:
- Information Technology – Software as a Service (SaaS), Email as a Service (EaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), IT professional services, hardware, helpdesk, custom developed software
- Non-Information Technology Services – Facility site services, financial services, professional consulting services, furniture, hardware
- Non-IT Commodities – Business planning, project management, program development, security assessment, training development, homeland security services, public safety training, marketing consulting services
Some products available through the MAS program are excluded on CMAS. These include:
- Products and services from other California Department of General Services’ (DGS) contracts
- Facility planning
- Medical services
- Registered nursing
- Human resources
- Security guard services
- Architectural (also not available through GSA)
- Construction (also not available through GSA)
- Engineering
- Environmental services
The Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS)
The State of Texas has an open enrollment vehicle through Texas statewide procurement division called the Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS). Like CMAS, TXMAS leverages the terms and conditions of your MAS contact and uses your awarded pricing.
TXMAS applies to non-IT contractors, so if you sell exclusively under Large Category F, this vehicle does not apply to you. TXMAS contractors are able to sell to state and local governments, municipalities, and K-12 and higher educational institutions.
TXMAS does not have a full scope of work and does not accept products or services including IT, job order contracts, engineering services, and consulting services.
State and Local Cooperative Purchasing Vehicles
NASPO Value Point
National Association of State Procurement Officials, or better known as NASPO Value Point, is a national cooperative that combines the demands of all 50 states to provide a wide range of competitive solutions from cloud solutions to car tires. NASPO Value Point leverages the purchasing power of a single state to develop a master contract.
Once a contractor is awarded the master contract for a specific state, they can sell their products and services to all 50 states and 5 U.S territories within the cooperative. To do this, the NASPO Value Point contractor enters a Participating Addendum with the state or territory they want to sell to.
This is not an open enrollment, you need to respond to an open solicitation and be awarded a contract. These contracts typically have a period of performance of a 5-year base contract with 2-3 additional 1-year options to renew.
Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR)
The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) is the state of Texas’ purchasing arm for IT products and services. To become a DIR vendor, you need to respond to a solicitation that relates to your company’s core products and services and then be awarded the contract through that process.
Under DIR, you can sell to state agencies, higher education, local government, and school districts. DIR has also established their own Cooperative Contracts Program which allows for IT solutions which is open to out of state public entities beyond Texas.
DIR posts solicitations on their “Current Contracting Initiatives” page. If you’re interested in the DIR, we suggest you register first and periodically check out this web portal for specific opportunities that pertain to your solutions.
Florida Department of Management Services (DMS)
The Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) is the state of Florida’s procurement division of the Florida government.
Florida does participate with NASPO Value Point with most products and services, but they do have separate solicitations as well. Like Texas DIR, you need to actively respond to a posted opportunity on their “State Contracts and Agreements” page and find the ones you are qualified to respond to.
New York Office of General Services (OGS)
Like Florida, New York has its own contract vehicle under the Office of General Services (OGS). OGS is responsible for the establishment of centralized contracts that are used by New York state agencies, localities, municipalities, and other authorized users.
Like most states, New York requires a potential contractor bids on specific opportunities within the state. Bids are posted on the “State Contract Reporter” page. It’s important to note that OGS can participate in other state contracts, but it’s only in situations where the OGS portfolio does not have certain products or services available.
State of Washington
The state of Washington has its own contract vehicle through the Department of Enterprise Services (DES). To sell through the DES, you need to register with Washington’s Electronic Business Solution (WEBS) Portal, then you can bid on opportunities. Washington uses a statewide master contract where pricing is pre-negotiated and allows for direct purchasing.
Take Advantage of Your GSA Contractor Status
As a GSA contractor, you have an incredible advantage in the government marketplace. Evaluate all the business opportunities out there, and make sure you are expanding your customer base whenever possible.
If you’re not sure about a state or local government organization’s eligibility, you can always reference the eligibility determinations list from GSA. We recommend double checking an entity is eligible before you use a program. You can also submit an eligibility determination request to GSA.
If you have any questions about any of these purchasing vehicles or how your company can sell to state and local government, reach out to one of our consultants. We would be happy to help you figure out where your solutions fit best in the GSA marketplace.
