{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://connolly.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=705", "Federal Times: Lawmakers Strike Deal on Sweeping IT Reform Bill", "2014-12-03", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Gerald Connolly", "C001078", "connolly.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Known as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the bill would significantly empower CIOs at the largest civilian agencies. Read more.\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      Federal Times: Lawmakers Strike Deal on Sweeping IT Reform BillAaron BoydSenators have included a sweeping federal IT reform bill in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), almost guaranteeing its passage.Known as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), the bill would significantly empower CIOs at the largest civilian agencies.If approved, the bill will give CIOs:? More discretion over how IT budgets are set and used;? Authority over planning and implementing large-scale projects;? Hiring approval for CIOs at component agencies; and? Final approval on contracts for all major IT products and services.The bill would not affect the Defense Department or intelligence agencies.CIOs also would be required to submit regular reports to the Office of Management and Budget and update public-facing dashboards detailing the status of large IT investments.The measure also codifies some best practices, including a risk management approach to cybersecurity, regular reviews of agency IT portfolios, and an endorsement of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative.The Senate bill leaves out some provisions included in an earlier House-passed version. Namely, the bill does not include a \u201cmyth-busting\u201d initiative aimed at encouraging more robust communications between federal officials and the private sector. It also lacks a working capital fund for cloud procurement.Nevertheless, sponsors of the House bill said Wednesday they were pleased with the final version.\u201cBy giving decision-makers the ability to make changes appropriate for their agency, we can ensure that the most knowledgeable will now be able to enact solutions that had otherwise plagued their agencies,\u201d said House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., an original FITARA sponsor.\u201cAs technology changes, Chief Information Officers were previously prevented from adopting new technologies, and often the American taxpayer missed out on more cost effective options. FITARA fixes this crisis of leadership and ensures that the contracting standard is modernized to handle a changed tech landscape,\u201d Issa said.\u201cThe fact that we were able to get the key components through \u2014 even without some of the \u2018wants\u2019 \u2014 is a good thing,\u201d a spokesman for Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said, noting that reform, and particularly IT reform, needs to be incremental. \u201cThis is really the beginning of a whole other step.\u201dOthers worry the incremental approach won\u2019t be enough.\u201cSome think it\u2019s too weak,\u201d said a federal CIO advisor familiar with the measure. \u201cThey think this is the only shot and Congress won\u2019t do more IT reform if this passes.\u201dCIOs have expressed concern that bureau-level IT managers will still have too much control over their individual budgets.\u201cIt would be better to leave it alone and go back next year,\u201d the official said. \u201cEspecially with the bi-partisan feelings on this.\u201dLarry Allen, senior advisor with TechAmerica, noted that many of the leaders pushing for IT reform in the House and Senate will not be in the legislature come January.\u201cIf we don\u2019t get something passed now, it might be a while,\u201d he said. \u201cHistory has shown it takes some critical mass to get IT acquisition reform passed.\u201d\u201cWe\u2019re at the point where we have a consensus-based bicameral package with our colleagues over on the House side and the Senate side, we\u2019ve come together,\u201d Oversight Committee Senior Advisor and Counsel for Acquisition Policy Richard Beutel said during a conference in October. \u201cThat bill gives CIOs broad plenary authority over the budget, over the people they hire and does things that we hope will fulfill the promise of Clinger-Cohen [Act of 1996] ... We\u2019re very optimistic something is going to happen.\u201dhttp://www.federaltimes.com/article/20141203/FEDIT03/312030017/Lawmakers-strike-deal-sweeping-reform-bill", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://connolly.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=705"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.756093068048358, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}