II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 990 

To modernize Government information technology, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2017 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. UDALL, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To modernize Government information technology, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Govern5 ment Technology Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘MGT Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Federal Government spends nearly 75 

9 percent of its annual information technology funding 

10 on operating and maintaining existing legacy inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Apr 29, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.IS S990

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1 mation technology systems. These systems can pose 

2 operational risks, including rising costs and inability 

3 to meet mission requirements. These systems also 

4 pose security risks, including the inability to use cur5 rent security best practices, such as data encryption 

6 and multi-factor authentication, making these sys7 tems particularly vulnerable to malicious cyber activ8 ity. 

9 (2) In 2015, the Government Accountability Of10 fice designated improving the management of infor11 mation technology acquisitions and operations to its 

12 biannual High Risk List and identified as a par13 ticular concern the increasing level of information 

14 technology spending on operations and maintenance, 

15 making less funding available for development or 

16 modernization. The Government Accountability Of17 fice also found that the Federal Government has 

18 spent billions on failed and poorly performing infor19 mation technology investments due to a lack of ef20 fective oversight. 

21 (3) The Federal Government must modernize 

22 Federal information technology systems to mitigate 

23 existing operational and security risks. 


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1 (4) The efficiencies, cost savings, and greater 

2 computing power offered by modernized solutions, 

3 such as cloud computing, have the potential to— 

4 (A) eliminate inappropriate duplication and 

5 reduce costs; 

6 (B) address the critical need for cybersecu7 rity by design; and 

8 (C) move the Federal Government into a 

9 broad, digital-services delivery model that will 

10 transform the ability of the Federal Govern11 ment to meet mission requirements and deliver 

12 services to the people of the United States. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol14 lowing: 

15 (1) Assist the Federal Government in modern16 izing Federal information technology to mitigate 

17 current operational and security risks. 

18 (2) Incentivize cost savings in Federal informa19 tion technology through modernization. 

20 (3) Accelerate the acquisition and deployment 

21 of modernized information technology solutions, such 

22 as cloud computing, by addressing impediments in 

23 the areas of funding, development, and acquisition 

24 practices. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY INFORMATION TECH2 NOLOGY SYSTEMS MODERNIZATION AND 

3 WORKING CAPITAL FUNDS. 

4 (a) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM MOD5 ERNIZATION AND WORKING CAPITAL FUNDS.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The head of a covered 

7 agency may establish within such agency an infor8 mation technology system modernization and work9 ing capital fund (in this section referred to as the 

10 ‘‘IT working capital fund’’) for necessary expenses 

11 described in paragraph (3). 

12 (2) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The following 

13 amounts may be deposited into an IT working cap14 ital fund: 

15 (A) Reprogramming and transfer of funds 

16 made available in appropriations Acts subse17 quent to the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 including transfer of any funds for the oper19 ation and maintenance of legacy information 

20 technology systems, in compliance with any ap21 plicable reprogramming law or guidelines of the 

22 Committees on Appropriations of the House of 

23 Representatives and the Senate. 

24 (B) Amounts made available to the IT 

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1 propriations made available subsequent to the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—An IT working capital 

4 fund established under paragraph (1) may be used, 

5 subject to the availability of appropriations, only for 

6 the following: 

7 (A) To improve, retire, or replace existing 

8 information technology systems in the covered 

9 agency to enhance cybersecurity and to improve 

10 efficiency and effectiveness. 

11 (B) To transition legacy information tech12 nology at the covered agency to cloud com13 puting and other innovative platforms and tech14 nologies, including those serving more than one 

15 covered agency with common requirements. 

16 (C) To assist and support covered agency 

17 efforts to provide adequate, risk-based, and 

18 cost-effective information technology capabilities 

19 that address evolving threats to information se20 curity. 

21 (D) To reimburse funds transferred to the 

22 covered agency from the Technology Moderniza23 tion Fund established under section 4, with the 

24 approval of the Chief Information Officer of the 

25 covered agency. 


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1 (4) EXISTING FUNDS.—An IT working capital 

2 fund may not be used to supplant funds provided for 

3 the operation and maintenance of any system within 

4 an appropriation for the covered agency at the time 

5 of establishment of the IT working capital fund. 

6 (5) PRIORITIZATION OF FUNDS.—The head of 

7 each covered agency shall prioritize funds within the 

8 IT working capital fund to be used initially for cost 

9 savings activities approved by the Chief Information 

10 Officer of the covered agency, in consultation with 

11 the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Gov12 ernment. The head of each covered agency may re13 program and transfer any amounts saved as a direct 

14 result of such activities for deposit into the applica15 ble IT working capital fund, consistent with para16 graph (2)(A). 

17 (6) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Any funds deposited 

18 into an IT working capital fund shall be available 

19 for obligation for three years after the last day of 

20 the fiscal year in which such funds were deposited. 

21 (7) AGENCY CIO RESPONSIBILITIES.—In evalu22 ating projects to be funded from the IT working 

23 capital fund, the Chief Information Officer of the 

24 covered agency shall consider, to the extent applica25 ble, guidance issued pursuant to section 4(a)(1) to 


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1 evaluate applications for funding from the Tech2 nology Modernization Fund established under that 

3 section that include factors such as a strong busi4 ness case, technical design, procurement strategy 

5 (including adequate use of incremental software de6 velopment practices), and program management. 

7 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

10 every six months thereafter, the head of each cov11 ered agency shall submit to the Director the fol12 lowing, with respect to the IT working capital fund 

13 for the covered agency: 

14 (A) A list of each information technology 

15 investment funded with estimated cost and 

16 completion date for each such investment. 

17 (B) A summary by fiscal year of obliga18 tions, expenditures, and unused balances. 

19 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director shall 

20 make the information submitted under paragraph 

21 (1) publicly available on a website. 

22 (c) COVERED AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 

23 the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means each agency listed in 

24 section 901(b) of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZA2 TION FUND AND BOARD. 

3 (a) TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION FUND.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

5 the Treasury of the United States a Technology 

6 Modernization Fund (in this section referred to as 

7 the ‘‘Fund’’) for technology-related activities, to im8 prove information technology, to enhance cybersecu9 rity across the Federal Government, and to be ad10 ministered in accordance with guidance issued by the 

11 Director. 

12 (2) ADMINISTRATION OF FUND.—The Commis13 sioner of the Technology Transformation Service of 

14 the General Services Administration, in consultation 

15 with the Chief Information Officers Council and 

16 with the approval of the Director, shall administer 

17 the Fund in accordance with this subsection. 

18 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—The Commissioner shall, 

19 in accordance with the recommendations of the 

20 Technology Modernization Board established under 

21 subsection (b), use amounts in the Fund for the fol22 lowing purposes: 

23 (A) To transfer such amounts, to remain 

24 available until expended, to the head of an 

25 agency to improve, retire, or replace existing 

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1 hance cybersecurity and improve efficiency and 

2 effectiveness. 

3 (B) For the development, operation, and 

4 procurement of information technology prod5 ucts, services, and acquisition vehicles for use 

6 by agencies to improve Governmentwide effi7 ciency and cybersecurity in accordance with the 

8 requirements of such agencies. 

9 (C) To provide services or work performed 

10 in support of the activities described under sub11 paragraph (A) or (B). 

12 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; 

13 CREDITS; AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

14 (A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA15 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

16 to the Fund $250,000,000 for each of fiscal 

17 years 2018 and 2019. 

18 (B) CREDITS.—In addition to any funds 

19 otherwise appropriated, the Fund shall be cred20 ited with all reimbursements, advances, or re21 funds or recoveries relating to information tech22 nology or services provided through the Fund. 

23 (C) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

24 deposited, credited, or otherwise made available 

25 to the Fund shall be available, as provided in 


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1 appropriations Acts, until expended for the pur2 poses described in paragraph (3). 

3 (5) REIMBURSEMENT.— 

4 (A) PAYMENT BY AGENCY.—For a product 

5 or service developed under paragraph (3)(B), 

6 including any services or work performed in 

7 support of such development under paragraph 

8 (3)(C), the head of an agency that uses such 

9 product or service shall pay an amount fixed by 

10 the Commissioner in accordance with this para11 graph. 

12 (B) REIMBURSEMENT BY AGENCY.—The 

13 head of an agency shall reimburse the Fund for 

14 any transfer made under paragraph (3)(A), in15 cluding any services or work performed in sup16 port of such transfer under paragraph (3)(C), 

17 in accordance with the terms established in a 

18 written agreement described in paragraph (6). 

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 

20 agency may make a reimbursement required by 

21 this subparagraph from any appropriation made 

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1 tees on Appropriations of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Senate. An obligation to 

3 make a payment under a written agreement de4 scribed in paragraph (6) in a fiscal year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 

6 recorded pursuant to section 1501 of title 31, 

7 United States Code, in the fiscal year in which 

8 the payment is due. 

9 (C) PRICES FIXED BY COMMISSIONER.— 

10 The Commissioner, in consultation with the Di11 rector, shall establish amounts to be paid by an 

12 agency and terms of repayment for use of a 

13 product or service developed under paragraph 

14 (3)(B), including any services or work per15 formed in support of such development under 

16 paragraph (3)(C), at levels sufficient to ensure 

17 the solvency of the Fund, including operating 

18 expenses. Before making any changes to the es19 tablished amounts and terms of repayment, the 

20 Commissioner shall conduct a review and obtain 

21 approval from the Director. 

22 (D) FAILURE TO MAKE TIMELY REIM23 BURSEMENT.—The Commissioner may obtain 

24 reimbursement by the issuance of transfer and 

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1 ments, supported by itemized bills, if payment 

2 is not made by an agency— 

3 (i) within 90 days after the expiration 

4 of a repayment period described in a writ5 ten agreement described in paragraph (6); 

6 or 

7 (ii) within 45 days after the expiration 

8 of the time period to make a payment 

9 under a payment schedule for a product or 

10 service developed under paragraph (3)(B). 

11 (6) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before the transfer of 

13 funds to an agency under paragraph (3)(A), the 

14 Commissioner (in consultation with the Direc15 tor) and the head of the requisitioning agency 

16 shall enter into a written agreement docu17 menting the purpose for which the funds will be 

18 used and the terms of repayment, which may 

19 not exceed five years unless approved by the Di20 rector. An agreement made pursuant to this 

21 subparagraph shall be recorded as an obligation 

22 as provided in paragraph (5)(B). 

23 (B) REQUIREMENT FOR USE OF INCRE24 MENTAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES.—For any 

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1 graph (3)(A), in the absence of compelling cir2 cumstances documented by the Commissioner 

3 at the time of transfer, such funds shall be 

4 transferred only on an incremental basis, tied to 

5 metric-based development milestones achieved 

6 by the agency, to be described in a written 

7 agreement required under subparagraph (A). 

8 (7) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

9 six months after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the Director shall publish and maintain a list 

11 of each project funded by the Fund on a public 

12 website, to be updated not less than quarterly, that 

13 includes a description of the project, project status 

14 (including any schedule delay and cost overruns), 

15 and financial expenditure data related to the project. 

16 (b) TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION BOARD.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

18 Technology Modernization Board (in this section re19 ferred to as the ‘‘Board’’) to evaluate proposals sub20 mitted by agencies for funding authorized under the 

21 Fund. 

22 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

23 the Board are the following: 

24 (A) Provide input to the Director for the 

25 development of processes for agencies to submit 


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1 modernization proposals to the Board and to 

2 establish the criteria by which such proposals 

3 are evaluated, which shall include addressing 

4 the greatest security and operational risks, hav5 ing the greatest Governmentwide impact, and 

6 having a high probability of success based on 

7 factors such as a strong business case, technical 

8 design, procurement strategy (including ade9 quate use of incremental software development 

10 practices), and program management. 

11 (B) Make recommendations to the Com12 missioner to assist agencies in the further devel13 opment and refinement of select submitted 

14 modernization proposals, based on an initial 

15 evaluation performed with the assistance of the 

16 Commissioner. 

17 (C) Review and prioritize, with the assist18 ance of the Commissioner and the Director, 

19 modernization proposals based on criteria estab20 lished pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

21 (D) Identify, with the assistance of the 

22 Commissioner, opportunities to improve or re23 place multiple information technology systems 

24 with a smaller number of information tech25 nology systems common to multiple agencies. 


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1 (E) Recommend the funding of moderniza2 tion projects, in accordance with the uses de3 scribed in subsection (a)(3), to the Commis4 sioner. 

5 (F) Monitor, in consultation with the Com6 missioner, progress and performance in exe7 cuting approved projects and, if necessary, rec8 ommend the suspension or termination of fund9 ing for projects based on factors such as failure 

10 to meet the terms of a written agreement de11 scribed in subsection (a)(6). 

12 (G) Monitor operating costs of the Fund. 

13 (3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall consist of 

14 eight voting members. 

15 (4) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Board shall be 

16 the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Gov17 ernment. 

18 (5) PERMANENT MEMBERS.—The permanent 

19 members of the Board shall be the following: 

20 (A) The Administrator of the Office of 

21 Electronic Government. 

22 (B) A senior official from the General 

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1 pointed by the Administrator of General Serv2 ices, with the approval of the Director. 

3 (6) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.— 

4 (A) APPOINTMENT.—The other members 

5 of the Board shall be appointed as follows: 

6 (i) One employee of the National Pro7 tection and Programs Directorate of the 

8 Department of Homeland Security, ap9 pointed by the Secretary of Homeland Se10 curity. 

11 (ii) One employee of the Department 

12 of Defense, appointed by the Secretary of 

13 Defense. 

14 (iii) Four Federal employees primarily 

15 having technical expertise in information 

16 technology development, financial manage17 ment, cybersecurity and privacy, and ac18 quisition, appointed by the Director. 

19 (B) TERM.—Each member of the Board 

20 described in subparagraph (A) shall serve a 

21 term of one year, which shall be renewable up 

22 to three times, at the discretion of the appoint23 ing Secretary or Director, as applicable. 

24 (7) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION.—Mem25 bers of the Board may not receive additional pay, alVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Apr 29, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.IS S990

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1 lowances, or benefits by reason of their service on 

2 the Board. 

3 (8) STAFF.—Upon request of the Chair of the 

4 Board, the Director and the Administrator of Gen5 eral Services may detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, 

6 any of the personnel of the Office of Management 

7 and Budget or the General Services Administration 

8 (as the case may be) to the Board to assist the 

9 Board in carrying out its functions under this Act. 

10 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMISSIONER.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the respon12 sibilities described in subsection (b), the Commis13 sioner shall support the activities of the Board and 

14 provide technical support to, and, with the concur15 rence of the Director, oversight of, agencies that re16 ceive transfers from the Fund. 

17 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of 

18 the Commissioner are the following: 

19 (A) Provide direct technical support in the 

20 form of personnel services or otherwise to agen21 cies transferred amounts under subsection 

22 (a)(3)(A) and for products, services, and acqui23 sition vehicles funded under subsection 

24 (a)(3)(B). 


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1 (B) Assist the Board with the evaluation, 

2 prioritization, and development of agency mod3 ernization proposals. 

4 (C) Perform regular project oversight and 

5 monitoring of approved agency modernization 

6 projects, in consultation with the Board and the 

7 Director, to increase the likelihood of successful 

8 implementation and reduce waste. 

9 (D) Provide the Director with information 

10 necessary to meet the requirements of sub11 section (a)(7). 

12 (d) AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

13 ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 551 

14 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) CLOUD COMPUTING.—The term ‘‘cloud 

18 computing’’ has the meaning given that term by the 

19 National Institute of Standards and Technology in 

20 NIST Special Publication 800–145 and any amend21 atory or superseding document thereto. 

22 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis23 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Technology 

24 Transformation Service of the General Services Ad25 ministration. 


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1 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg3 et. 

4 (4) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

5 ‘‘information technology’’ has the meaning given 

6 that term in section 3502 of title 44, United States 

7 Code. 

8 (5) LEGACY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYS9 TEM.—The term ‘‘legacy information technology sys10 tem’’ means an outdated or obsolete system of infor11 mation technology. 

Æ 


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