A pair of congressmen are partnering to help update the federal government's outdated legacy IT systems with a bill that may include a central modernization fund.
Congressional sources say that Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, has merged his Modernizing Outdated and Vulnerable Equipment and Information Technology, or MOVE IT, Act with Rep. Steny Hoyer's, D-Md., Information Technology Modernization Act in a show of bipartisan support for funding better IT systems for federal agencies.
The repackaged bill has been dubbed the Modernizing Government Technology Act — sponsored by Hurd and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Md. — and will head to a committee markup on Sept. 15, after being introduced two days before.
Since President Obama's budget request of $3.1 billion for an IT Modernization Fund in February, Congress has been battling about exactly how to fund the replacement of the government's aging information systems.
Hoyer introduced his legislation on April 11, proposing that Congress appropriate $3.1 billion into a revolving fund for rapid upgrades and that the fund would sustain itself on the cost savings of utilizing more efficient systems.
The plan would be to have the fund managed by the General Services Administration, which, in turn, would receive IT modernization recommendations from an Information Technology Modernization Board, created by the bill.
The agencies would draw from the fund to carry out GSA-approved IT projects and pay prices set by the GSA administrator to reimburse the fund for future projects. The GSA would coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget to determine the reimbursement terms.
Hurd’s MOVE IT Act debuted in July and would also set up revolving funds to IT modernization. But instead of one fund, the bill envisions separate working capital funds for each agency, with monies culled from the budgets used to maintain legacy systems.
Agencies would have to "reprogram" their own IT funding to apply to their IT modernization efforts, effectively spending their own money on upgrade projects rather than drawing from a central pool.
Reconciling the two funding structures will be the key to the new bill.
Though neither Hurd nor Hoyer have yet to release a statement, a Hoyer aide said that the new bill will include the IT Modernization Fund.
"Reps. Hurd and Connolly introduced the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act last night, and it includes Mr. Hoyer’s IT Modernization Act and Rep. Hurd’s MOVE-IT Act," the aide told Federal Times. "Mr. Hoyer is very pleased that the bipartisan bill includes full authorization for the IT Modernization Fund, which is a top priority of the Administration.
"While this is a positive step — and Mr. Hoyer hopes the bill will pass in committee and be brought to the floor — he will continue to advocate for the necessary funding for the IT Modernization Fund. Mr. Hoyer will issue a statement on markup of the bill tomorrow."
Both bills stress applying IT modernization authorization with speed to allow agencies to develop their modernization initiatives quickly, which has been the lynchpin upgrade efforts.
The new MGT Act is scheduled to be part of a multi-bill markup by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at 10 a.m. on Sept. 15.
