If you have a 58 I GSA Schedule Contract, this could be pretty significant news. It was recently announced that beginning in March 2013, federal buyers will only be purchasing televisions and monitors that are EPEAT registered. EPEAT is the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, and GSA describes it as “a multi-attribute, multi-tier environmental and energy efficiency rating system and registry for electronic equipment. The criteria address more than energy efficiency and, in essence, define what it means for products to be environmentally preferable.”

A recent article by Matthew Weigelt discusses the Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s (OFPB) and lawmakers push for greater transparency in agency decision making and its impacts on small business. OFPP has issued a request to comment on the cost comparisons being conducted by federal agencies on whether to insource work previously contracted out to small businesses. Governmental insourcing has affected many small businesses in recent years and Congress is calling for transparency to ensure small businesses are looked after while simultaneously ensuring the decision to either insource or outsource is in the best interest of the taxpayers. The House of Representatives has recommended the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stop federal insourcing from small businesses until the federal agencies have publicized the information regarding their procedures and methodologies as stated in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The implementation of transparent practices will assist the federal government in its responsibility to cut spending and meet small-business contracting goals.

As cybersecurity and privacy issues have become more prevalent in the public sector in recent years, the need to enact new cybersecurity policies has increased. Most recently, Executive Order (EO) 13636 of February 12, 2013 – Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, was released by the White House and named important new cybersecurity policies to be implemented.

Sequestration is set to take effect on March 1st, however both parties have announced they will be introducing bills on February 25th or 26th to replace it at least for the next year. The Democrats bill, entitled the American Family Economic Protection Act, proposes $120 billion in savings, divided evenly between cuts in spending and increases in revenue. The bill would replace the cuts that could take effect under sequestration, but only until the end of December 2013. The proposed bill includes $27.5 billion in cuts to defense spending, which would take effect in 2014 after the drawdown in Afghanistan, as well as possible cuts in agricultural subsidies. The increased revenue would come from three areas: Firstly, from a provision raising taxes to 30 percent on incomes between $1 and $2 million, the so-called “Buffet Rule,” a provision previously blocked by Republicans; secondly, revenue would be raised by eliminating tax deductions for businesses who relocate their facilities overseas. Finally, the increased revenue would come from a provision closing the tar sands loophole (the loop hole that allows companies to escape the eight-cent-per-barrel tax on oil, which isn’t currently levied on oil produced from tar sands). No details have come out yet on what the Republican plan will entail, although several Republican lawmakers have expressed willingness to increase tax revenue.

University of Baltimore’s Charles Tiefer has proposed multiple solutions to help agencies save money in the face of sequestration. Tiefer believes that there are things each agency can do now to save money lost in unnecessary contracts, in order to avoid furloughing government employees.

Understanding that the easiest way to reach the public these days is through their mobile devices, police departments have begun publishing mobile apps for citizens to report petty crimes and thefts. According to a multitude of departments, the old system of calling in each crime would lead to a backlog of paperwork and nearly a month turnaround to obtain a police report. Additionally, a lot much crime data was lost as it would be difficult for the department to follow up. Appalling numbers such as for every 2000 phone calls for reported crimes, only 500 police reports would result, showed the need for a change. Now with the mobile app, citizens fill out the crime information through the app and upon approval, a PDF copy is sent directly to them. This new system leads to not only less time spent and paperwork, but greater record keeping accuracy and creating more crime data for certain areas.