The Professional Services Council has urged leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to mark up a bipartisan bill that would establish a source of funds for federal agencies’ information technology modernization efforts.PSC said Wednesday it wrote a letter to committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Ranking Member Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) after White House senior adviser Jared Kushner publicly stated that the Trump administration actively supports the Modernizing Government Technology Act.
David Berteau, PSC president and CEO, said MGT Act will help agencies replace legacy IT systems; mitigate cybersecurity risks; and establish IT working capital funds that could accelerate the adoption of modern technologies across the federal government.
Berteau added the bill would establish a centralized Technology Modernization Fund administered by the General Services Administration and form a Technology Modernization Board to assess and make recommendations for agencies’ proposals.
President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal includes $228 million in seed money for the Technology Modernization Fund.
Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) introduced the upper chamber’s version of MGT Act in April while the House of Representatives approved its version of the bill through a voice vote held in May.
