Blogs

Congress is taking this week off--and leaving a great deal of work on the table.  Perhaps most glaring, House and Senate budget negotiators must reach a deal by December 13 to keep the government open.  With the House coming back into session on December 2 and the Senate on December 9, a short-term “continuing resolution,” funding the government at current levels and providing negotiators more time to work out a deal, is likely.  Failure to pass any legislation would result in another government shutdown.  However, another shutdown is seen as extremely unlikely due to the severe political consequences of the last one.  

Both chambers are slated to leave town December 13 until January 6, but that timeline seems increasingly unlikely with deals yet to be struck on a litany of key legislation beyond just the budget deal.  Perhaps most concerning, the debt ceiling must be dealt with by January 15, leaving little time to deal with another crucial deadline right after the holidays. All these Congressional deadlines will quickly overshadow any news around the administration's self-imposed deadline to fix healthcare.gov and the online enrollment system by the end of this week.

Other Buzz:

House FirstNet Hearing Features State CIOs

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing on the development and build out of the FirstNet public safety broadband network, featuring state CIOs Stu Davis of Ohio and Darryl Ackley of New Mexico. The CIOs highlighted the first steps being taken by FirstNet, as well as some of the lingering questions regarding coordination, planning, and cost surrounding the network. You can find their testimony, as well as a video of the hearing, on the committee website.  Both Davis and Ackley serve on the NASCIO Executive Committee.

Federal Spending Transparency Passes House

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act (HR 2061), with strong bipartisan support.  The DATA Act aims to create greater transparency in federal funding by requiring agencies and recipients of federal funds to report details of how they are using the money in standardized, machine-readable formats.  This includes state and local governments.  The reported data would be available via a searchable website and available for download.  NASCIO and allies previously had concerns regarding the DATA Act (see our letter and testimony), as previous versions proposed significant new reporting burdens on states without any additional funding.  The House version eliminates some of those concerns. The Senate has its own version of the DATA Act (S 994) that is more favorable to state governments as it removes language that would allow a pilot program for federal fund recipient reporting to be expanded solely at the discretion of the White House Office of Management and Budget.  There is a significant chance the Senate will pass its version of the DATA Act; however, the differences between the two bills will need to be hammered out by a conference committee and require additional votes before it is sent to the President.

Your Weekly Techbytes:

President’s Tech Council Slams Federal Cybersecurity

What’s Holding Up Oakland’s Public Safety Dashboard?

Can IT Procurement be Saved?

All eyes on federal IT after website fiasco

Is it Time for a Secretary of Technology?

Supercomputer Watson will Soon be Available to Everyone