Four members of Congress have introduced a bill that would make the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) a permanent cloud computing initiative in the government.
The Federal Secure Cloud Improvement and Jobs Act would allocate $20 million to fund operations of the program, which began in 2011 and helped agencies gain access to certified cloud information technology offerings, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Tuesday.
The legislation also calls for the formation of a Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee to facilitate coordination between cloud providers and federal agencies.
More than 200 providers of cloud services to the federal sector are certified under FedRAMP and 36 percent of the vendors come from the small business community, according to the committee.
Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Steve Daines, R-Mont.; and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., are the sponsors of the proposed bill.
