Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act made changes to the ways the U.S. federal government buys and manages computer technology. It became law as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Title VIII, Subtitle D, . One of the requirements would be that the government develop a streamlined plan for its acquisitions. The bill would increase the power of existing chief information officers (CIO) within federal agencies so that they could be more effective. Each agency would also be reduced to having only one CIO in the agency, who is then responsible for the success and failure of all IT projects in that agency. The bill would also require the federal government to make use of private sector best practices. The bill is intended to reduce IT procurement related waste. Earlier versions of FITARA were introduced in 2013 () and passed in a
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...
in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
during the
113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...
.


Background

The U.S. federal government spends over $80 billion a year on IT products and services. Almost half of this goes to maintaining old and out-of-date systems.


Provisions of the bill

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the
Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
, a
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
source.'' The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act would modify the current framework governing the management of information technology (IT) within the federal government to: (1) require presidential appointment or designation of the chief information officer (CIO) in 16 specified federal agencies (thereby providing consistency with the presidential appointment or designation of
chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
s for such agencies, but specifically excludes the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
ODand provides for the heads of other agencies to continue to designate an agency CIO), (2) designate the Chief Information Officers Council as the lead interagency forum for improving agency coordination information resources investment, and (3) require the
Comptroller General A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...
(GAO) to examine the effectiveness of the Council. The bill would direct such CIOs to report directly to the head of the agency. It would set forth authorities relating to budget planning and the hiring of IT personnel. The bill would require each agency to have only one CIO but permits offices within an agency to designate a deputy, associate, or assistant CIO. The bill would require the Federal Chief Information Officer (FCIO) (defined as the Administrator of the
Office of E-Government & Information Technology The Office of E-Government & Information Technology, also called the E-Gov office or the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer (OFCIO), develops and guides the U.S. federal government's use of Internet-based technologies for the public to ...
in the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...
MB to develop and implement an initiative to be known as the Federal Data Center Optimization Initiative to optimize the usage and efficiency of federal data centers. It would also set forth permitted methods for agencies to consolidate data centers and achieve maximum server utilization and energy efficiency. The bill would require agencies to track costs resulting from implementation of the Initiative within the agency and submit an annual report on such costs to the FCIO. The bill would require the OMB Director to: (1) develop a plan for conducting a government-wide inventory of IT assets, and (2) assess all publicly available websites of federal agencies and require agencies to eliminate or consolidate any duplicate or overlapping websites. The bill would express the sense of Congress that transition to
cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
offers significant potential benefits for the implementation of federal IT projects. The bill would also permit CIOs to establish cloud service working capital funds. The bill would prohibit an executive agency from issuing a solicitation for certain covered contract vehicles unless the agency performs a business case analysis and obtains approval from the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy (FPP). The bill would direct the OMB Director to: (1) establish a Federal Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration Center to serve as a focal point for coordinated program management practices and to develop and maintain requirements for the acquisition of
IT infrastructure Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service; typically physical components (Computer hardware, computer and networking hardware and facilitie ...
and applications commonly used by federal agencies, and (2) designate Assisted Acquisition Centers of Excellence (AACEs) to develop areas of specialized acquisition expertise within various executive agencies. Sets forth authority for AACEs to implement best practices, assist agencies in expedient and low-cost interagency acquisitions by engaging in repeated and frequent acquisition of similar IT requirements, and assist with recruitment and training. The bill would require the OMB Director to submit to Congress: (1) a five-year strategic plan to develop, strengthen, and solidify IT acquisition cadres; and (2) a plan for improving management of IT programs and projects. The bill would direct the FPP Administrator to prescribe regulations requiring a comparative value analysis to be included in the contract file when the federal government purchases services and supplies offered under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative from sources outside such Initiative. The bill would permit executive agencies to state in solicitations that awards will be made using a fixed price technical competition under which all offerors compete solely on nonprice factors and the fixed award price is pre-announced in the solicitation. The bill would require additional information concerning blanket purchase agreements and IT investments to be made available to the public. The bill would establish guidance with respect to the validity of open source software as a procurement option required to receive full consideration alongside other options (in merit-based requirements development and evaluation processes promoting choices based on performance and value) in a manner free of preconceived preferences based on how technology is developed, licensed, or distributed within the federal government. Prohibits such guidance from modifying the federal policy of following technology-neutral principles when selecting and acquiring information technology. The bill would require federal computer standards to include guidelines necessary to enable effective adoption of open source software. Directs the OMB Director to issue guidance for the use and collaborative development of open source software within the federal government.


Congressional Budget Office report

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 20, 2013. This is a
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
source.'' H.R. 1232 would amend the laws governing the procurement and management of
information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
(IT) throughout the federal government. Specifically, the legislation would increase the authority of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and the CIO Council, establish a collaboration center to coordinate the acquisition of IT products, and require a number of additional reports and analysis by government agencies. The
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
(CBO) estimates that implementing H.R. 1232 would cost $145 million over the 2014-2018 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting the bill could affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual appropriations; therefore,
pay-as-you-go Pay as you go or PAYG may refer to: Finance * Pay-as-you-go tax, or pay-as-you-earn tax * Pay-as-you-go pension plan * PAYGO, the practice in the US of financing expenditures with current funds rather than borrowing * PAUG, a structured financial ...
procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net increase in spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. H.R. 1232 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA''(pdf)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1995-title2/html/USCODE-1995-title2-chap25.htm (text)] restricts the federal government of the United States, federal imposition of unfunded mandate ...
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.


Procedural history

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act was introduced into the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
on March 18, 2013 by Darrell Issa, Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R, CA-49). It was referred to the
United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
. House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Mino ...
announced on February 21, 2014 that the bill would be considered under a
suspension of the rules In United States parliamentary procedure, a suspension of the rules allows a deliberative assembly to set aside its normal rules to do something that it could not do otherwise. However, there are rules that cannot be suspended. Explanation of use ...
on February 25, 2014. On February 25, 2014, the House voted to pass the bill in a
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...
.


Debate and discussion

The
Federal Times ''Federal Times'' is a source of information for senior U.S. government managers on trends and issues facing them in their job performance and career. The magazine is published six times per year. ''Federal Times'' is part of Sightline Media Gro ...
said that this bill makes the "most significant changes to the federal IT procurement system since the
Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 is a United States federal law, designed to improve the way the federal government acquires, uses and disposes information technology (IT). It was passed as Division E of the National Defens ...
." According to Representative
Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A Democrat, he was first elected in 2008 ...
(D-VA), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and co-sponsor of the bill, "there are more than 250 identified CIOs in the federal government, yet none possess the necessary authority to effectively manage IT investments" which has "resulted in duplicative and wasteful IT spending."
Information Week ''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United State ...
reports that the bill could "save the federal government as much as $2 billion annually by changing wasteful buying practices." It would do this by "eliminating unused and underused software licenses and eradicating noncompliant software that incurs financial penalties for the federal government." According to Tom Schatz, president of
Citizens Against Government Waste Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in the United States. It functions as a "government watchdog" and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Wast ...
, "Section 301 of FITARA requires federal agencies to optimize their software licenses by knowing the software licensing requirements of their workforce prior to purchasing or renewing licenses, thus avoiding overpaying for software licenses they do not need or being subject to penalties for using more software licenses than they purchased."


Provisions adopted within the NDAA

Title VIII of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015 contains a Subtitle D entitled "Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform" and commonly referred to as FITARA (although it is not a stand-alone Act). Within that Subtitle * Sec. 831 requires specified federal agencies to ensure that the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the agencies has specified authorities and responsibilities in planning, programming, budgeting, and executing processes related to information technology. * Sec. 832 requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make the cost, schedule, and performance data of specified information technology investments publicly available. Requires the CIO of each agency to categorize the investments according to risk and review those that have a high level of risk. * Sec. 833 requires OMB to implement a process to assist specified agencies in reviewing their portfolio of information technology investments, including the development of standardized cost savings and cost avoidance metrics and performance indicators. Requires the CIO of each agency to conduct an annual review of the information technology portfolio and requires the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government to submit a quarterly report to Congress identifying cost savings and reductions in duplicative investments identified by the review. * Sec. 834 provides for the consolidation of federal data centers. * Sec. 835 requires OMB to work with federal agencies to update their acquisition human capital plans to address how the agencies are meeting their human capital requirements to support the timely and effective acquisition of information technology. * Sec. 836 directs OMB to prescribe regulations requiring a comparative value analysis to be included in the contract file when the federal government purchases services and supplies offered under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative from sources outside the Initiative. * Sec. 837 requires the General Services Administration to develop a strategic sourcing initiative to enhance government-wide acquisitions, shared use, and dissemination of software, as well as compliance with end use license agreements.


Effects

OMB published guidance to U.S. federal agencies on how to respond to the law in OMB Memorandum M-15-14: Management and Oversight of Federal Information Technology. The OMB memo also related FITARA's requirements to those of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 and the
E-Government Act of 2002 The E-Government Act of 2002 (, , , H.R. 2458/S. 803), is a United States statute enacted on 17 December 2002, with an effective date for most provisions of 17 April 2003. Its stated purpose is to improve the management and promotion of electroni ...
The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA): Frequently Asked Questions
Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
report R44462


See also

*
List of bills in the 113th United States Congress The bills of the 113th United States Congress list includes proposed federal laws that were introduced in the 113th United States Congress. This Congress lasted from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015. The United States Congress is the bicamer ...


Notes/References


External links


Library of Congress - Congress.gov H.R. 1232congress.gov H.R. 1232GovTrack.us H.R. 1232OpenCongress.org H.R. 1232

House Republican Conference's Legislative Digest on H.R. 1232Congressional Budget Office Report on H.R. 1232FY2015 National Defense Authorization ActH.R.1232 - Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform ActThe Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard 3.0: Measuring Agencies’ ImplementationThe Federal Information Technology Reform Act Scorecard 2.0Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Version 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (H.R. 1232 113th Congress) Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress