Trade Association Urges Senate to Prioritize IT Modernization During Lame Duck

The Professional Services Council, an Arlington, Virginia-based trade association that represents hundreds of tech companies, sent a letter last week to Senators on both sides of the aisle, urging the Senate to take up the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act of 2016.

“When the Senate reconvenes later this month, we urge you to act promptly on a bill that can be signed into law,” said David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council. “Congress and the executive branch should use this narrow window of opportunity to pass this important legislation and kick start the modernizing and upgrading of federal information technology as well as enabling the adoption of new technologies to help make government more effective.”

This version of MGT, which unanimously passed the House back in September, combines pieces of both the White House’s $3.1 billion IT Modernization Fund and Rep. Will Hurd’s (R-TX) Modernizing Outdated and Vulnerable Equipment and Information Technology Act. It would create a central fund for agencies to borrow against to modernize outdated systems. The funding level would therefore be at the discretion of appropriators.