Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, is taking another whack at moving his information technology modernization bill through Congress.
Hurd's office confirmed he will re-introduce his Modernizing Government Technology Act in the House on April 28, with corresponding Senate legislation to follow.
The IT Alliance for the Public Sector said in an April 28 statement that it welcomed the debut of the new iteration of the bill, which passed the House in 2016, but wasn't taken up by the lame-duck Senate.
"The MGT Act will help federal agencies adopt new technologies like cloud computing and other innovative technologies as well as strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities," said Senior Vice President for Public Sector Trey Hodgkins.
"We hope the strong bipartisan and bicameral support for the MGT Act will compel Congress to act swiftly and send this legislation to the president to sign into law and boost our national security."
The Modernizing Government Technology Act emerged last year as a bipartisan combination of Hurd’s MOVE IT Act and Rep. Steny Hoyer’s, D-Md., Information Technology Modernization Act as a way to help agencies fund the replacement of their legacy IT systems.
The bill provides individual working capital funds for each agency to modernize their IT systems called for in Hurd’s MOVE IT Act, but also sets up 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."
Agencies would "reprogram" their own IT funding to apply to their IT modernization efforts, effectively spending their own money on upgrade projects through individual accounts.
The central fund — along with an Information Technology Modernization Board to advise it —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.
ITAPS — a division of the IT trade association Information Technology Industry Council — said the new House bill was co-sponsored by Hurd and Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., while a companion Senate bill would be introduced by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, and Tom Udall, D-N.M.
IT modernization has been an issue supported early by the young Trump administration, advancing a similar position held by the Obama administration to move federal agencies off of legacy IT systems to bolster cybersecurity in the wake of several recent breaches.
"We are excited about today's introduction of the
Modernizing Government Technology Act
; this important bipartisan work, led by Rep. Will Hurd and Rep. Steny Hoyer, will enable significant progress to be made towards creating a more effective, efficient, and accountable government for all Americans," said Reed Cordish and Chris Liddell, members of the White House Office of American Innovation, in a statement.
