IT Reform Bill Passes House

The House passed, on a voice vote, a bill to reform how the government builds and buys information technology systems. Similar legislation is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act would limit each federal agency to one person with the title chief information officer and give that person authority over the agency’s IT spending. It would also create centers of excellence across government to assist with complicated IT acquisitions and require the government to publicly post performance metrics on a much greater percentage of its IT projects. The legislation, sponsored by Reps Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA), was bolstered by congressional and public ire at the poor performance of HealthCare.gov, the Obama Administration’s online health insurance marketplace, which was largely unusable during its first two months online.