Currently, the government's fiscal policies state that purchases should first be made from vendors who are qualify as on or more of the following:
- On Contract
- Service Disabled Veteran
- Veteran
- Small Business
- Women Owned
Under this requirement, a purchase can only be made from a vendor that does not fall under any of these categories ONLY if one of such vendors does not exist. Even if the product costs ten times more!
I understand the need for helping specific demographic groups, but this is probably costing hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Additionally, many items are requested to be purchased, but a different item is what is actually purchased, simply due to the fact that it is on contract. This happens even though the item doesn't meet the needs of the requestor.