Davis amends e-gov bill

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) is using the House version of the e-government bill to further his push to incorporate commercial practices and expertise within government.

Davis, chairman of the Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee, added two amendments to the e-government bill (H.R. 2458) before voting it to the full House Government Reform Committee on Oct. 1.

One amendment was the full text of Davis' own Digital Tech Corps bill (H.R. 3925), which was passed by the House in April but hasn't made it through the Senate. The measure would allow mid-level information technology managers in federal agencies and private companies to swap jobs for at least six months and as long as two years.

Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas), ranking member on the subcommittee, introduced the e-government bill last year. He fully supported Davis' amendment, even though federal employee unions oppose the Digital Tech Corps bill.

Another Davis amendment fully authorizes the share-in-savings method, with oversight and assistance from the Office of Management and Budget. Current law allows for agencies to pilot the share-in-savings contracting method, which enables agencies to enter agreements in which the contractor pays for the technology upfront and is paid back via the savings realized by the modernization.

Turner opposed this Davis change, pointing out that share-in-savings is still a fairly new and untested process, and the agencies that have used it - such as the Education Department's Office of Student Financial Assistance Programs - have had problems setting the baseline against which savings will be measured.

Davis also moved to block an attempt to make the head of the proposed e-government office a Senate-confirmed position, something that has been debated for months in both the House and Senate.

The bill will next go to the full committee to be debated alongside S. 803, the similar bill introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and passed by the Senate earlier this year.