Senate funding bill zeros out TMF

It's a familiar story: The House looks to add to the Technology Modernization Fund while the Senate taps the brakes

NOTE: This article first appeared on FCW.com.

Once again, Senate appropriators are offering zero dollars to the central revolving fund set up by the Modernizing Government Technology Act.

The Senate's Financial Services and General Government appropriation, released on Monday, includes no new money for the Technology Modernization Fund, which is currently flush thanks to a $1 billion addition included in the American Rescue Plan Act. More funding could be coming via the two-part infrastructure package sought by the Biden administration. Another $1 billion for the fund was included in the House Oversight Committee's markup of the Build Back Better legislation. However, that bill won't come to the House floor for a vote until there is a deal in place among Democratic lawmakers and the White House to advance the Build Back Better bill and a separate bipartisan infrastructure bill that has already passed in the Senate.

The House of Representatives did include a $50 million plus-up to the fund in an appropriations package that passed 219-208 in July.

"It has always been an uphill battle in the Senate," Mike Hettinger, a former senior congressional staffer who lobbies on technology issues, told FCW. "The Senate has always been focused on transparency and showing results."

In the past, lawmakers have usually split the difference, with annual funding boosts in the $25 million to $35 million range for TMF.

Additionally, Senate appropriators are seeking more oversight authority over efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to tap into TMF funding. So far, Customs and Border Protection has been awarded $65 million in TMF funding across two projects.

The legislative report accompanying the DHS appropriations bill states that the committee supports efforts at DHS to obtain TMF funding and that it wants to be notified "when the department or a component agency submits an initial project proposal to the Technology Modernization Board." In the event of an award, DHS must brief appropriators "on the project and the plan for paying back the TMF, e.g., identify projected cost savings."

Senate appropriators are also allowing DHS for the first time to set up its own pot of non-year money to support IT modernization. The DHS funding bill sets up a new "Nonrecurring Expenses Fund" for the agency, funded by "unobligated balances of expired discretionary funds." Any funds that go into this account are considered available until they are spent, and can be used for "information technology system modernization and facilities infrastructure improvements necessary" for DHS operations, subject to the approval of the Office of Management and Budget.

Agencies are authorized to set up their own revolving IT funds under the Modernizing Government Technology Act, but so far few have done so.

New TMF awards on the way

Federal CIO Clare Martorana said Tuesday at an event hosted by Bloomberg that the next set of TMF awards would be announced in a matter of weeks, and added that the program management office has been scaled to address a backlog of proposals. The board announced $311 million in awards at the end of September -- the first tranche of TMF funding since the $1 billion addition to the program in March. 

Martorana, who heads the TMF board, described the investment as "the best seed funding" possible to ensure the government is making "strategic investments" in cross-agency service improvements, cybersecurity and modernization efforts. The board recently made a $187 million award to Login.gov, a public-facing identity and credentialing management program that provides users with secure access to participating government programs and services.

She said the board has been meeting weekly to go through over $2 billion worth of proposals for funding. The board has been receiving assistance from federal IT workers in reviewing project proposals.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.