Senate appropriators are proposing $5 million for the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) in the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill.
The TMF – which is run by the General Services Administration (GSA) – was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act to provide federal civilian agencies with funding to undertake tech modernization projects. Congress must act before Dec. 12 to avoid a lapse in TMF authority.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations released the draft FSGG funding bill on Nov. 24, including $5 million for the TMF “to remain available until expended.”
The Senate bill differs from the FY 2026 FSGG bill released earlier this year by the House Appropriations Committee, which has no funding line for TMF – a repeat of last year’s House bill, which zeroed out appropriations for the TMF for FY 2025.
The Senate version of the FY 2025 FSGG appropriations bill included $25 million of new funding for TMF.
However, the future of TMF’s funding remains unclear, as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed a new funding model for the fund in May that would take effect in FY 2026.
Under OMB’s plan, in FY 2026, the head of each agency would be allowed to “transfer or reimburse” money to the TMF, “provided that the total cumulative amount of funds transferred or reimbursed each fiscal year may not exceed $100,000,000.”
The annual FSGG appropriations bill has historically been the home for new TMF funding proposals. However, GSA said OMB’s proposal would alleviate “the burden on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee.”
Industry Urges Reauthorization
The Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI) sent a letter to congressional leaders on Nov. 24 to voice its strong support for reauthorization of the TMF before its Dec. 12 sunset date.
“As representatives of the nation’s leading technology companies partnering with government to drive digital transformation, we urge Congress to include the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Reform Act (H.R. 2985) in upcoming legislative vehicles to ensure continuity of this vital program,” ADI wrote.
The MGT Reform Act, introduced in April by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and the late Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., would reauthorize the TMF until 2032.
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.
In addition to ADI, the Center for Procurement Advocacy (CPA) is also calling on Congress to reauthorize the TMF and strongly supports passage of the MGT Reform Act.
“Reauthorizing the TMF is not just good policy – it is essential for national security, fiscal responsibility, and public trust,” Timothy Cook, the executive director of the Center for Policy Advocacy, said in a statement.