Senate passes Lieberman-Thompson e-gov bill

The Senate unanimously approved e-government legislation June 27 that would create an Office of Electronic Government in the Office of Management and Budget and establish a four-year, $345 million e-government fund to support interagency e-government projects. A Senate-confirmed administrator would lead the Office of Electronic Government.

The e-gov fund outlined in the Senate bill would receive $45 million in the first year, fiscal 2003, the same amount as President Bush requested in his budget proposal. Bush had asked for $20 million for the fund in the 2002 budget, but received $5 million.

With the bill passage, "we come a step closer to achieving the important goal of providing Americans the same 24-7 access to government information and services that is now available to them from the private sector," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. Lieberman is co-sponsor of the bill and chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

The bill also would permanently reauthorize the Government Information Security Reform Act, which provides a management framework for protecting the security of government computers.

"It's no secret that our nation's underlying information infrastructure is riddled with vulnerabilities, which represent severe risks to our national security, public safety and personal privacy. Securing our infrastructure is a vital part of securing our homeland," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Governmental Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the bill.

The bill provides funding for improvements to the federal government's central Web portal, FirstGov.gov, and for the assessment of training needs of the federal information technology work force. It requires creating an online directory of federal Web sites and directs federal courts to post opinions online.

The bill also calls for development of standards for agency Web sites and the creation of an interagency group to develop common protocols for geographic information systems.

Other provisions require agencies to establish online rule making and development of a Web-based repository of information about research and development funded by the federal government.

E-government legislation in the House, H.R. 2458, sponsored by Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, was introduced last July and referred to the Government Reform subcommittee on government efficiency, financial management and intergovernmental relations.