House passed e-gov bill; Senate prepared to take it up

Congress is one step away from creating an Office of E-Government in the Office of Management and Budget and providing unprecedented funds to move e-government forward across agencies. The House last night passed by unanimous consent its version of the E-Government Act of 2002, HR 2458, and the Senate, which passed a version of the e-government bill in June, may take up the House legislation as early as Friday evening, said a minority staff member on the Senate Governmental Affairs committee.Should the Senate pass the House’s version, lawmakers would bypass conference and send the bill to the president to be signed into law.In addition to the new e-government office, the bill, which was sponsored by House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) and ranking member Jim Turner (D-Texas), would provide $45 million for the administration’s e-government fund for fiscal 2003, $55 million for 2004 and $250 million over the next two years.In addition to e-government provisions, the legislation includes Davis’ technical innovations bill, Federal Information Security Management Act, Digital Tech Corps Act and portions of his Service Acquisition Reform Act [www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20133-1.html].Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) sponsored the Senate’s original bill, S 803.