# Congress Considers Skills-Based Contracting Act

The proposed Skills-Based Federal Contracting Act would generally prevent federal agencies from setting minimum education requirements in contract solicitations unless they justify those requirements in writing, shifting evaluation toward demonstrated skills. The article says this change could broaden competition for AI-enabled services, including from smaller teams, and increase the importance of defining deliverables and measuring quality. No specific solicitation, award, funding amount, or implementation date is identified.

- If enacted, agencies would need to provide written justification for minimum education requirements covered by the act; contractors could emphasize relevant skills and demonstrated capabilities in their proposals.
- Agencies may face greater pressure to specify measurable outcomes and assess service quality, rather than relying primarily on labor-hour inputs.
- The article identifies fixed-price work as a potential consideration, not a requirement. Procurement teams and offerors can evaluate whether outcome-based pricing fits the services being acquired.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Professional Services, Information Technology
**Topics:** Policy, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 14, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. federal government

### Sources
- [Dropping degree requirements from federal contracts opens the door to AI-enabled services | FedScoop](https://fedscoop.com/agencies-hiring-skills-over-education-bill) - FedScoop