Committee approves tech modernization fund increase for FY19

The House Appropriations Committee approved a financial services bill June 13 that would furnish the Technology Modernization Fund with an additional $150 million for fiscal 2019.

The TMF, which was established in December 2017 by the Modernizing Government Technology Act to kickstart or speed up IT modernization efforts across federal agencies, was originally authorized for $250 million but received only $100 million in FY18 appropriations. The committee-approved FY19 funding would boost the fund to its originally proposed levels.

The number still falls below the president’s requested $210 million for 2019.

The TMF is likely to need the funding boost in coming months, as it already doled out nearly half its original funding to three agency IT projects in early June.

“The committee encourages GSA and the TMF Board established by the Modernizing Government Technology Act to prioritize and fund those projects that have the most significant impact on mission enhancement and that most effectively modernize citizen-facing services, including updating public facing websites, modernizing forms and digitizing government processes,” the committee report said.