Mace Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize and Reform the Technology Modernization Fund

WASHINGTON—Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Chairwoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced H.R. 5527, the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Reform Act of 2023, which reauthorizes and reforms the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and its governing board, the Technology Modernization Board (TMB). This bill includes several measures to improve the administration of the TMF and ensure program operations adhere to original congressional intent. This legislation establishes a Federal Legacy IT Inventory, a new oversight tool that will allow Congress to ensure the Federal government is addressing the problem of legacy IT and to assess how well the TMF does in funding related projects.

“We have heard through Oversight Committee hearings that inefficient legacy IT systems prevent agency mission delivery and create cyber risks within the federal government,” said Subcommittee Chairwoman Mace. “This bipartisan bill institutes much needed reforms to increase transparency and ensure the Technology Modernization Fund remains sustainable and solvent. This bipartisan bill will ensure that the TMF is a tool to modernize, replace, or retire federal legacy IT systems to ensure efficient use of U.S. taxpayer dollars. I am pleased the Oversight Committee will consider this bill this week and look forward to it ultimately becoming law.”

Representative Gerry Connolly is an original cosponsor of the bill.

The TMF was established to create a novel, revolving fund mechanism to address federal legacy IT modernization. Prior to the creation of the TMF, the annual appropriations cycle made it difficult for agencies to plan and implement upgrades to legacy IT systems. The TMF needs to be reauthorized and reformed to ensure it is a sustainable and solvent tool for addressing federal legacy IT modernization.

Read bill text here.