Modernization
Senate panel outpaces House in tech spending plans, including TMF
The Senate's General Government and Financial Services appropriation includes a $25 million plus-up for the nearly depleted Technology Modernization Fund.
VA launches revamped burn pit registry with automatic enrollment
The upgraded database of veterans exposed to toxic pollutants and trash burn pits came after “extensive feedback” showed the platform was difficult for many retired service members to navigate.
Senate panel advances House-led TMF update
Congress is looking to enshrine repayment requirements in the legislation that supports the Technology Modernization Fund.
Senators take another crack at solving over-classification
The bipartisan Classification Reform for Transparency Act would establish a new task force to narrow the criteria for classifying documents and make it harder for agencies to exempt records from automatic declassification.
OMB rewrites cloud buying rulebook
The FedRAMP program received its first major update in more than a decade
Cost overruns, delays plague VA’s new integrated financial management system
The rollout of VA’s modernized financial management and acquisition system has been affected by delays in the department’s new electronic health record system, since “multiple deployments” depend on the EHR’s launch at medical facilities.
VA’s planned restart of EHR rollouts draws lawmaker concern
“I think we are far from ready to endorse further go-live activities,” Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., said about VA’s plan to resume deployments in fiscal year 2025.
Treasury looks to help the financial sector move to the cloud
Among the potential risks: market concentration among cloud service providers.
Transportation’s working capital fund is missing controls for cost recovery, IG warns
The watchdog’s findings include an accidental overbilling by upwards of $16,000.
Why do federal employee background checks take so long? Panel points to delayed IT system
The Defense Department agency responsible for vetting workers at most federal agencies originally planned to have a new background check system fully functional in 2019.
Lawmakers press VA to report on delays in burn pit registry revamp
An October 2022 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said VA should “initiate a new phase” of its Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry to make it “a user-friendly, efficient and effective resource.”
Lawmakers look to amend CHIPS Act to cover manufacturing gear
A bipartisan bill would add new language to the landmark CHIPS and Science Act to eliminate materials made by “foreign entities of concern” from semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
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TMF announces new round of awards amid funding uncertainty
The $1 billion Technology Modernization Fund boost from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act is running out, and it remains to be seen whether Congress will keep the program afloat.
VA still needs to shore up usability of new EHR system, GAO says
More than one-third of the government watchdog's priority open recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs have to do with improving oversight and management of the new electronic health record system.
OPM’s retirement backlog hit an 8-year low last month
Efforts to streamline the processing of departing federal workers’ retirement applications continue to pay dividends, as the inventory of pending claims hit the lowest point since 2016.
Lawmakers look to restore TSA funding to speed screening tech deployment
The measure is one of three bipartisan proposals rolled out this week that seek to bolster funding for TSA’s deployment of new technologies and to limit invasive pat-downs of travelers.
House passes TMF reauthorization bill
The Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act includes changes around repayment to the TMF.
Exclusive
IRS is making headway on modernizing 1960s-era tax system, commissioner says
The IRS is currently testing a modernized Individual Master File system in the hopes it can potentially switch to the modern version for the next tax season.
Proposed deep cuts to VA’s tech budget rankle lawmakers
The Biden administration’s FY25 budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs proposes steep cuts to the agency’s IT services, including a 99% reduction in VA’s development initiatives from FY24.
Lawmakers propose more scrutiny of VA's new EHR, reauthorize VET-TEC program
The bipartisan legislative package includes new oversight metrics for VA’s Oracle Cerner electronic health record system but would end the modernization effort if facilities using the software don’t show improvement.
