Federal Times: Lawmakers Strike Deal on Sweeping IT Reform Bill

Aaron Boyd

Senators have included a sweeping federal IT reform bill in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), almost guaranteeing its passage.

Known as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the bill would significantly empower CIOs at the largest civilian agencies.

If approved, the bill will give CIOs:

? More discretion over how IT budgets are set and used;

? Authority over planning and implementing large-scale projects;

? Hiring approval for CIOs at component agencies; and

? Final approval on contracts for all major IT products and services.

The bill would not affect the Defense Department or intelligence agencies.

CIOs also would be required to submit regular reports to the Office of Management and Budget and update public-facing dashboards detailing the status of large IT investments.

The measure also codifies some best practices, including a risk management approach to cybersecurity, regular reviews of agency IT portfolios, and an endorsement of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative.

The Senate bill leaves out some provisions included in an earlier House-passed version. Namely, the bill does not include a “myth-busting” initiative aimed at encouraging more robust communications between federal officials and the private sector. It also lacks a working capital fund for cloud procurement.

Nevertheless, sponsors of the House bill said Wednesday they were pleased with the final version.

“By giving decision-makers the ability to make changes appropriate for their agency, we can ensure that the most knowledgeable will now be able to enact solutions that had otherwise plagued their agencies,” said House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., an original FITARA sponsor.

“As technology changes, Chief Information Officers were previously prevented from adopting new technologies, and often the American taxpayer missed out on more cost effective options. FITARA fixes this crisis of leadership and ensures that the contracting standard is modernized to handle a changed tech landscape,” Issa said.

“The fact that we were able to get the key components through — even without some of the ‘wants’ — is a good thing,” a spokesman for Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said, noting that reform, and particularly IT reform, needs to be incremental. “This is really the beginning of a whole other step.”

Others worry the incremental approach won’t be enough.

“Some think it’s too weak,” said a federal CIO advisor familiar with the measure. “They think this is the only shot and Congress won’t do more IT reform if this passes.”

CIOs have expressed concern that bureau-level IT managers will still have too much control over their individual budgets.

“It would be better to leave it alone and go back next year,” the official said. “Especially with the bi-partisan feelings on this.”

Larry Allen, senior advisor with TechAmerica, noted that many of the leaders pushing for IT reform in the House and Senate will not be in the legislature come January.

“If we don’t get something passed now, it might be a while,” he said. “History has shown it takes some critical mass to get IT acquisition reform passed.”

“We’re at the point where we have a consensus-based bicameral package with our colleagues over on the House side and the Senate side, we’ve come together,” Oversight Committee Senior Advisor and Counsel for Acquisition Policy Richard Beutel said during a conference in October. “That bill gives CIOs broad plenary authority over the budget, over the people they hire and does things that we hope will fulfill the promise of Clinger-Cohen [Act of 1996] ... We’re very optimistic something is going to happen.”

http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20141203/FEDIT03/312030017/Lawmakers-strike-deal-sweeping-reform-bill