State and Local Government Use of GSA schedule Contracts: Recently the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) recommended that Congress authorize state and local governments to use all of the 53 GSA schedules in making purchases. Currently only the Information Technology schedule and Total Solutions for Law Enforcement schedule are authorized for use by state and local governments. State and local governments will ultimately receive the funds for infrastructure development under the federal bailout initiative. Congress might look favorably on the Administrator's recommendation because it could create jobs faster.

Obama and Federal Contracts: President elect Obama has said that he will cut down on the number of federal contracts. Most likely he will cut out a few bad apples, call for more visibility and increased accountability, and implement contractor ethics reforms. The federal government cannot operate without contracts and jobs cannot be created quickly under the new bailout initiatives unless the federal government relies heavily on contractors.