The Senate attached several management-related provisions as it approved its version of the annual DoD authorization bill (HR-2810):
The text of a bill to more tightly manage government-issued purchase and travel cards by requiring GSA and OMB to: develop new analytics to track trends in spending for purposes of preventing improper spending or recovering misspent money; issue guidance on sharing of information about curbing improper purchases among all agencies; and create a central organization to share best practices.
The text of the Modernizing Government Technology Act (HR-2227, already passed by the House), to establish a working capital fund in the GSA that agencies could draw on to improve or replace existing IT systems and enhance security, transition legacy systems to cloud computing and other state of the art platforms, address evolving threats.
A requirement that DoD determine who ultimately controls a building in which it leases space for high-security operations; the so-called “beneficial owner” may in some cases pose a security risk, GAO said in a recent report.
Also approved was an amendment to encourage DoD to make fuller use of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program and the Department of Defense Information Technology Exchange Program to obtain personnel with cyber skills; and one to expand the government-wide Scholarship for Service program, which provides funding for students in cybersecurity degree programs in exchange for a service agreement after graduation.
