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Contract Opportunity

SOLE SOURCE SPECIAL NOTICE NO. 693JK423Q600002

FOR SUBSCRIPTION TO FISCALNOTE

Upon the basis of the following justification, DOT’s contemplated SOLE-SOURCE purchase of a subscription to FISCALNOTE would be made under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a), which states that an executive agency may use procedures other than competitive procedures --- (2) “When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.”

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE REQUIRING ACTIVITY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

US DOT/OST/S3

OST Office of the Under Secretary for Transportation Policy Resource Directorate

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

U.S. Department of Transportation/OST

Acquisition Services Division, M-63

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED:

This acquisition is to purchase a firm-fixed-price, five-year subscription to Fiscal Note for the Office of the Under Secretary of Transportation. The contract will consist of a one base year with four option years totaling 5 years.

There is a need for 5 online direct federal employee users. The estimated cost is $10,000.00 per year and will be funded using the following accounting data: 04A0102230.2023.0140000000.2000000000.25100.61000000.0000000000.0000000000.0000000000.00000000. The estimated delivery is August 30, 2023.

The Fiscal Note plan includes:

CQ INSIGHTS & ANALYSIS

• Public Law Text & U.S. Code

• CQ News (1985-present)

CQ LEGISLATIVE TRACKING SOURCES

• CQ Newsletters

• CQ Now News Feed – Live news and legislative updates.

• CQ Morning Briefing Newsletter

• Today at a Glance

• CQ Schedules

• FinTech Beat *NEW

• CQ Magazine (1984-present)

• CQ Daybook Extra

• CQ Defense Newsletter

CQ BUDGET

• CQ Budget & Newsletter (2003 -present)

CQ MEMBERS & STAFF

• CQ Member Profiles (1995-present)

• CQ Bill Track (1986-present)

• Committee Markup Coverage, Hearings and Rosters (1989-present)

• Amendment Text (1988-present)

• CQ Floor Votes (1983-present)

• Custom Bill and Vote Reports

• CQ House (1999-present) - Includes Legislative Day, Legislative Week, Fact Sheets, Floor Summaries and Conference Summaries

• CQ Senate (2011-present)

• CQ Hot Docs (2011-present)

• CRS Reports (1978-present)

• CQ Bill Analysis (1990-present)

• CQ Floor Video (2003-present)

• CQ LawTrack

• CQ Archives

ENHANCED GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS & CQ TRANSCRIPTS & TESTIMONY

ARCHIVES

• CQ Congressional Hearing, Newsmaker

• Bill Text (1987-present) and Financial Transcripts (1990-

• CQ Bill Compare present)

• CRS Bill Digests (1986-present) • Committee Testimony (1995-present)

• Committee Reports (1989-present) • Custom Transcript Requests (up to 10

• Congressional Record (1988-present) per year)

• Federal Register (1997-present)

3. JUSTIFICATION:

The proposed contract will provide improve access to public policy intelligence, promote collaboration across teams, and measure business outcomes in the US, the EU, and beyond continuity in significant enhancements and changes:

Fiscal Note Exclusives Sampling:

● Archived Coverage of Congress: No services can come close to the depth and historical data within CQ. Most of our databases go back between 20-40 years

● CQ News - CQ has won more Dirksen Awards for ‘Distinguished Reporting of Congress’ than any other organization

● Advanced Boolean Search and Bill Comparison tools - Search for bills and other documents with precision; compare and contrast different versions of bills side by side and inline.

● CQ Hot Docs - Search the most comprehensive collection of government source documents available

● Custom Transcripts - Transcripts available for all goings on inside Congress

● CQ House and Senate - Keep up daily with what is happening in the House and Senate

● CQ Floor Video - Search our Floor video tool by subject, member, or even keyword.

Proactively get floor video sent to inbox within 10 to 15 minutes of the spoken word

● CQ Magazine - Weekly deep dive inside the policymaking process

● Law Track- Proactively identify how pending bills will affect existing laws

● NEW Feature! Vote Watch- Spot trends and patterns among legislative votes

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

Only one source can provide the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. The statutory authority for the proposed contract with Fiscal Note is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1,(a), which states that an executive agency may use procedures other than competitive procedures only --- (2) “When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.” While other vendors may be able to perform this requirement; however, Fiscal Note is the only vendor that will meet OST need to continue with providing proficient services in support of the required.

5. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION THAT THE JUSTIFICATION IS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICER’S KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF:

Not applicable.

6. EFFORTS MADE TO OBTAIN COMPETITION, AND WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY FAR SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER FAR 5.202 APPLIES:

This Sole Source Special Notice numbered 693JK423Q600006, as published by DOT

Contracting Officer, Melinda Riddick in the SAM.gov website, constitutes the needed notice

contemplated in FAR 5.207-2.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

The Contracting Officer reviewed the proposed rates. Moreover, each invoice submitted by the contractor during performance of this contract will be scrutinized for allowability, allocability and reasonableness of billed cost in accordance with FAR Part 31. The anticipated costs for five-year subscription with for a total of $50,000.00 and have been deemed fair and reasonable based on historical data. All costs for services will be evaluated to ensure a fair and reasonable cost to the Government.

8. A DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON THAT MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED:

Pricing is deemed fair and reasonable. There are currently no actions being taken to prohibit the competitive acquisition process. Based on manufacture and internet research there is not another direct replacement that would not add additional cost to the government in order to maintain.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

Not applicable.

10. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFOREANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THESE SERVICES:

No Contractors have expressed interest at this time as no notification was issued identifying the opportunity for existing contract to Fiscal Note and the OST Contracting Officer will take all steps necessary to ensure that all the rules of procurement integrity are followed in addition to ensuring compliance with the Competition in Contract Act.

11. CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION THAT THE JUSTIFICATION IS ACCURATE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICER’S KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF:

As confirmed by the signature below, the Contracting Officer Representative hereby certifies that the facts and representations included in this justification are accurate and complete to the best of her/his knowledge and belief.

OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND:

Any entity OTHER THAN Fiscal Note—which believes that it is fully capable of meeting DOT’s needs and requirements at the high level of thoroughness and quality indispensable to the Department—may attempt to prove that point by e-mailing a Statement of Qualifications to Contracting Officer, Melinda.Riddick@dot.gov and no later than 12:00 PM Eastern Time Friday, September 1, 2023.

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