The Congressional Budget Office has said a House bill that would set up new budget accounts to fund updates to federal information technology systems would cost $9 billion to implement over five years, a figure that is subject to appropriation.
CBO said in a report published Thursday the enactment of the Modernizing Government Technology Act would result in a $3 billion increase in direct spending from 2017 through 2019 since the bill would authorize “agencies to spend previously appropriated funds that would otherwise lapse.”
According to the report, the MGT Act’s budget accounts include a government-wide fund to modernize government IT platforms and a working capital fund intended for the replacement of older IT systems at each agency.
The bill also aims to create a board of managers that will monitor and evaluate federal IT spending.
The passage of the proposed legislation “would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027†and would not impose costs on local, state and tribal governments, the congressional budget watchdog said.
CBO noted that the bill also lacks private-sector or intergovernmental mandates based on the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not have an impact on revenues.