Technology a winner in conferees' consolidated spending bill

Among the high points for information technology in the Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by the House on Thursday are:

1) appropriations for the Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and State departments,

2) a mandate that the Federal Communications Commission conduct an auction of cellular spectrum so police and fire departments nationwide could have their own interoperable communications network,

3) Justice received most of what it requested for its Tactical Law Enforcement Wireless Communications project, receiving $206.1 million for fiscal 2010, and boosted the budget for the Integrated Wireless Network by $21.1 million, with the condition that the money be spent on modernization of land mobile radio systems and not cellular systems,

4) a $140.3 million cybersecurity budget for the FBI, 5) $27.4 million for cybersecurity funding for Justice, and

5) $61.3 million for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.