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Trending
Senators seek to pass MGT Act via defense bill
42%
of departing SES members in a recent OPM survey cited the political environment as a reason for leaving
and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House sponsors “to get this done ASAP.” Using the defense bill as a vehicle is “a possibility but not a fore- gone conclusion.”
Many in the federal contracting com- munity have been eager to pass the MGT Act to spur modernization. The Professional Services Council has been pushing for the measure since it was
Senate backers of the Modernizing Government Technology Act are looking to a familiar vehicle to get their legisla- tion enacted — the must-pass defense authorization bill.
The MGT Act would create a $500 million modernization fund that agen- cies could use to support their efforts to move from legacy systems to cloud and managed services. The bill would also authorize agency-based revolving funds for the same purpose, with appro- priators establishing spending levels for those funds.
Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) recently offered the bill as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Udall said that “there have been constructive, bipartisan conversations between the bill sponsors, committee leaders and the administration, and I believe we can come together and move the bill through the Senate in the coming months. To that end, I joined Sen. Moran in filing the MGT Act as an amendment to the NDAA since that may again be a viable path toward enacting important federal IT reform legislation.”
The move comes as the bill is being
discussed at the staff level in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The MGT Act passed the House on a voice vote in May.
The Trump administration is behind the bill. Jared Kushner, who is a leader of the American Technology Council, discussed federal IT modernization in his first public remarks in his new role. And the fiscal 2018 budget pro-
Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal calls for
$229 million to establish a revolving modernization fund at the General Services Administration.
posal calls for $229 million to establish a revolving modernization fund at the General Services Administration.
The Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act passed in 2014 as a section of the NDAA. The Clinger-Cohen Act that gov- erned federal IT acquisition for almost two decades also passed as part of a defense bill.
There is still activity directed at pass- ing the bill as stand-alone legislation. A Capitol Hill source told FCW on back- ground that negotiations are ongoing between the Senate Homeland Security
first introduced in the waning days of the Obama administration.
“As the MGT Act has been under consideration for two years, PSC urges senators to support swift enactment of this bipartisan legislation to save taxpayer dollars and address security risks from outdated government com- puter systems,” said Cate Benedetti, the council’s vice president of gov- ernment relations. “Accordingly, PSC would welcome its passage as part of the defense bill.”
— Adam Mazmanian
FCW CALENDAR
10/3 Shared services
ACT-IAC, the Association of Government Accountants and the
Shared Services Leadership Coalition are co-hosting a daylong event on the implementation challenges and future implications of federal shared services. Washington, D.C. is.gd/shared_services
10/11 IT modernization
The Justice Department’s Ron Bewtra, the State Department’s
Melonie Parker-Hill and the Commerce Department’s Rod Turk are among the speakers at FCW’s summit on new IT modernization priorities.
Washington, D.C.
fcw.com/modernization
10/19 Innovation
GCN announces the 2017 dig IT Award winners at this gala to celebrate discovery and innovation
in government IT. FCW’s Rising Stars and Washington Technology’s Industry Innovators will also be honored. McLean, Va.
gcn.com/digit
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