THE PRICE IS RIGHT: Pro-fiscal restraint groups are urging HASC and SASC leaders to cement NDAA provisions that require defense contractors to report major price increases.

Bills bills bills: In a letter today to the chairs and top Democrats on HASC and SASC, four groups — Taxpayers for Common Sense, the National Taxpayers Union, the R Street Institute and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance — argued enacting those reporting requirements will help ensure fair pricing in noncompetitive contracts and discourage overcharging the Pentagon.

“Some price increases are truly unpredictable. However, collectively, they happen so often that it is hardly fair to treat their ongoing occurrence as a surprise,” the groups wrote. “When price increases go underreported, the Pentagon loses out on opportunities to work with contractors to address the root causes of those increases in a timely manner.”

The details: Both House and Senate versions of the NDAA include language requiring contractors to report to Pentagon contract officers within 30 days when prices for products or services under noncompetitive contracts reach or exceed 25% more than the price paid within the past year or 50% more within the previous five years.

Similar provisions to require reporting on significant price increases were included in both chambers’ defense bills last year but were not included in the final measure that became law.