The General Services Administration May 18 issued a final rule implementing the statutory provision that authorizes state and local governments to acquire information technology equipment and services under GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule 70, known as the cooperative purchasing program.  The GSA explained the boundaries of the program are established by Section 211 of the E-Government Act of 2002 which authorizes cooperative purchasing.  It provides (1) services and goods may be purchased by state and local government under cooperative purchasing program only if they are through Schedule 70 (2) while Congress authorized GSA to make available to state and locat government the simplified acquisition procedures and discounts offered by GSA it did not authorize GSA to exercise oversight over state and local purchases and (3) GSA does not offer dispute resolution.

The final rule makes “minor changes” to the May 2003 interim rule:

Makes clear an FSS contractor’s sales to state and local government does not trigger the price reduction clause that applies to federal agencies under which a vendor that lowers its schedule price for one federal agency must reduce its price to other agencies
Defines domestic and overseas delivery and provides the contractor the option of providing supplies and services internationally
Clarifies the contractor’s option to accept or not accept orders from outside the executive branch of the federal government
States that both contracts and blanket purchase agreements established under cooperative purchasing are separate contracts
Asserts the state and local agencies may add supplemental terms and conditions (Fed. Reg. 26,063).

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