With any luck, the modernization of the federal government’s information technology will develop as quickly as the bill to authorize it did.
The Modernizing Government Technology Act combines key funding components in both Hurd\u2019s Modernizing Outdated and Vulnerable Equipment and Information Technology, or MOVE IT, Act and Hoyer\u2019s Information Technology Modernization Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Last year, the federal government spent $80 billion on IT systems, 80 percent of which was spent maintaining outdated, legacy systems. We don\u2019t have to be stuck in the Stone Age,” Hurd said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A move to growing technologies like the cloud can help keep our information secure, while saving billions of dollars. It\u2019s time to stop wasting tax dollars and move government into the 21st Century.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new bill will provide individual working capital funds for each agency to modernize their IT systems called for in Hurd\u2019s MOVE IT Act, but also provides a central Information Technology and Modernization Fund and Board to “improve Government-wide efficiency and cybersecurity in accordance with the 15 requirements of the agencies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill cleared the committee in a voice vote with support from both committee chair Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Md.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It\u2019s good, bipartisan legislation and I appreciate Mr. Hurd bringing it forward,” Chaffetz said at the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Congress has been grappling with how to fund the much needed massive upgrade of the federal government\u2019s IT systems since President Obama called for a $3.1 billion fund in his 2017 budget request in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd\u2019s MOVE IT Act was designated for markup on Sept. 15, but the MGT Act took its place after being quietly introduced late on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill calls for agencies to “reprogram” their own IT funding to apply to their IT modernization efforts, effectively spending their own money on upgrade projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in creating a central fund \u2014 along with an Information Technology Modernization Board to advise it \u2014 the bill would establish a revolving pool managed by the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget that agencies would apply to receive monies for certain IT projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The eight-member board \u2014 whose members would include appointees from the GSA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Office of E-Government, the Department of Homeland Security and others \u2014 would make recommendations to GSA on which projects to fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill was co-sponsored by Hoyer, Chaffetz, Cummings, Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Robin Kelly, D-Ill., Ted Lieu, D-Calif. and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and will next head to the House floor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With any luck, the government\u2019s IT update will develop as quickly as the bill to authorize it did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":77,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[77,63,31,14,9,28],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2714],"class_list":["post-13326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acquisition-smr","category-cloud","category-home","category-it-networks","category-federal-oversight","category-smr"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PRAGLIWNLBF7ZMOJYP4ZVQFKJQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/smr\/acquisition\/2016\/09\/15\/new-hurd-hoyer-it-modernization-bill-clears-oversight-committee\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n