Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on Thursday reintroduced the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Reform Act, a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize and reform the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and its governing board.
The TMF – which is run by the General Services Administration (GSA) – was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act to provide money to Federal civilian agencies to undertake tech modernization projects.
Rep. Connolly – the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and an original cosponsor of the MGT Act – and Rep. Mace – the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation – previously introduced the legislation in 2023. It passed the House in May 2024.
“This reauthorization bill is a welcome show of support for the Technology Modernization Fund and the critical goal that drove its creation – bringing Federal IT into the 21st century,” said Ranking Member Connolly.
“Modernization will not be achieved by blindly taking a chainsaw to the Federal government or by starving agencies of the resources they need to retire legacy systems and upgrade their technology. It requires a serious, stable, and deliberate approach,” he added. “That is exactly what the TMF provides.”
Congress provided the TMF with a historic infusion of $1 billion in funding under the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. As of December 2024, TMF said it had allocated over $1 billion across 63 projects at 34 agencies.
The MGT Reform Act reauthorizes the TMF until 2032, ensuring the TMF adheres to original congressional intent and remains a force for years to come in helping to jumpstart Federal agency IT modernization projects.
The bill would also establish a Federal Legacy IT Inventory, a new oversight tool that would help Congress monitor how the Federal government is tackling the problem of legacy IT and evaluate the effectiveness of the TMF in funding related projects.
“The Federal government spends billions on outdated, obsolete legacy IT systems – a total nightmare for taxpayers. These antiquated systems are inefficient, prevent agency mission delivery, and create cybersecurity risks within the Federal government,” said Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Mace.
“Our bipartisan bill institutes much needed reforms to increase transparency and ensure a pathway to modernize, replace, or retire Federal legacy IT systems,” she said. “As this administration works tirelessly to make our government more efficient and effective for the American people, Congress must do its part to provide more tools to accomplish this mission.”