OLCA-Sole Source Justification-_Redacted.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Office of Legislation & Congressional Affairs

Legislative & Regulatory Research and Tracking Service Sole Source Justification

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND CONTRACTING AGENCY:

Department of Education Washington DC 20202-0001 400 Maryland Avenue SW

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED: This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition authorizes and approves the award to obtain online access to Bloomberg. This access is indispensable for the Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA). OLCA serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary on matters concerning the Departmental Legislative Program and Congressional relations. This will result in a Firm-Fixed Price purchase order.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEEDS

(Including the Estimated Value): OLCA requires an online subscription service that provides a comprehensive, integrated legislative, regulatory, appropriations and federal procurement intelligence to support government affairs, compliance, and strategic decision-making. The platform must deliver timely, accurate, and actionable information on federal and state legislative activity, regulatory developments, government spending, and key stakeholder engagement opportunities to assist staff in meeting the Agency’s Program and Congressional relations mission. Key requirements include:

• Legislative and Regulatory Tracking

• Policy News and Analysis

• Stakeholder Intelligence

• Budget, Procurement and Market Insights

• Collaboration Tools

• Alerts and Customization

This requirement is estimated to cost for a base period and four (4) one-year option periods.

4. AN IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: This sole source acquisition is justified under 41 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(1) and FAR 6.302-1 — “only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.”

5. A DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS

ARE SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE, INCLUDING

WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY SUBPART 5.2

AND IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER 5.202 APPLIES: In addition to the information in bullet 7 below, OCIA researched comparable solutions that will meet the technical objectives of this requirement. There were no solutions identified that could fully meet the government’s requirements.

6. A DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE: A price analysis will be

Legislative & Regulatory Research and Tracking Service Sole Source Justification conducted upon receipt of the offeror’s proposal and the CO shall determine price reasonableness based on historical data and the IGCE.

7. A DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED (PART 10) AND THE RESULTS

OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED: A

survey of commercial providers identified POLITICO Pro Analysis, Quorum, and FiscalNote as potential alternatives. Comparison findings:

Capability Bloomberg Gov POLITICO Pro Quorum FiscalNote

Legislative & regulatory tracking

Yes, federal + states

Yes, federal + states

Yes, federal + states

Yes, U.S. + global

Policy news & analysis

Extensive newsroom + insights

Strong policy news

Limited CQ + AI summaries

Appropriations & budget-to-spend

Federal Funding Flow:

links budget → actual spend

Context only Limited Limited

Federal procurement / GovCon intelligence

Full pipelines, task orders, market sizing, BGOV200 rankings

None None None

Stakeholder directories

Yes Yes Yes + CRM Yes

Advocacy / outreach

Basic Minimal Core strength Limited

AI-assisted features

Smart filtering for legislation

Bill summaries Some analytics AI drafting

8. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION: Unique Capability: Bloomberg Government is the only commercial provider capable of delivering integrated legislative, budget, and procurement analytics in one platform, real-time data, analysis and contextual reporting, to include:

• Federal Budget & Appropriations Intelligence that will provide OLCA with the ability to track how congressional decisions affect ED funding down to the treasury account symbol level detail.

Legislative & Regulatory Research and Tracking Service Sole Source Justification

• Procurement Market Intelligence that offers visibility into ED’s contracting pipeline, task orders, and comparative activity.

• Combines legislative tracking, budget execution, and contract data in a single platform.

• Supports both policy context (via news and analysis) and data-driven execution tracking (via financial and procurement databases).

This integration is critical for OLCA to advise the Secretary and Department leadership on the impact of federal budget and appropriations actions, ensuring accurate reporting to Congress, and maintaining situational awareness of Department funding and contracting.

9. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR

OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION

FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED: None

10. Certification

I certify that the statements provided above are complete and correct to the best of my knowledge, in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. The facts of this acquisition preclude the use of full and open competition.