APPROPRIATIONS/BUDGET NEWS

How will Congress end the FY 20 appropriations?

CQ posted an article this week that said rumors to extend the next CR into late January or early February are dead.  Instead, the more popular date for the new CR is through Dec. 13 or 20. Besides determining a new CR date, the parties need to resolve outstanding differences between each other. Democrats want more funding for the FY 20 Labor-HHS bill:

“Senate Democrats last month proposed adding $3.3 billion to the bill’s allocation, paid for by cuts to the DHS bill, but the GOP countered with just $1 billion more – offset through surplus Pell Grant funds within the Labor-HHS-Subcommittee jurisdiction. The House L-HHS bill, written before the budget deal was passed, provides $14 billion more than the Senate bill.

The parties also disagree on funding for the Trump wall. The White House is asking for $8.6B for wall construction. The Senate Homeland Security bill appropriates $5B. The House bill provides no funding for new physical barriers. CQ states that, “Passing all the bills before the new year would require a compromise on the wall and transfer authority.”

“One option proposed by Democrats is to use emergency funds, cap adjustments or both to free up discretionary funds to allow for a higher Labor-HHS-Education allocation. Republicans have not expressed any willingness to go along with this. They say it would involve reopening negotiations over the budget deal that specified adjustments above the caps for war funds and 2020 census costs.

“Another possible option would be to spread funds for wall construction over several different bills, including the massive Defense bill as well as Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA, allowing resources for the wall to take a smaller bite out of each bill.”

The pressure is on to reach some sort of a deal because there are only eight legislative days left before the current CR expires on November 21.

For more information, contact:
Jerry Chouinard
Deep Water Point Legislative Affairs Lead
jerry.chouinard@deepwaterpoint.com

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APPROPRIATIONS/BUDGET NEWS

The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill.  This legislation provides annual funding for the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, the General Services Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and several other independent agencies.

Attached is a summary of the funding recommendations. Some highlights:

1. Provides $18 million for the Cybersecurity Enhancement Account of Treasury.
2. Provides $6.1 million for the Treasury’s Department-Wide Systems and Capital Investments Programs.
3. Of the amounts appropriated to the IRS for Operations Support, not less than $10 million shall be available for the development of a vendor tax check application.

[su_button url=”https://www.deepwaterpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FY-20-Senate-Financial-Services-GSA-Funding.pdf” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#777e85″ color=”#000000″ size=”10″]View Full Summary[/su_button]

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Deep Water Point Legislative Affairs Lead
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APPROPRIATIONS/BUDGET NEWS

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently reported S.734 to the Senate, the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019. There is a similar bill (HR 1668) pending consideration in the House of Representatives. There is no floor schedule for either bill as yet.

The purpose of S. 734 is to proactively mitigate the risks posed by inadequately secured Internet of Things (IoT) devices through the establishment of minimum-security standards for IoT devices purchased by the Federal Government. The bill codifies the ongoing work of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop standards and guidelines, including minimum-security requirements, for the use of IoT devices by Federal agencies. The bill also directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to issue the necessary policies and principles to implement the NIST standards and guidelines on IoT security and management.

Additionally, the bill requires NIST, in consultation with cybersecurity researchers and industry experts, to publish guidelines for the reporting, coordinating, publishing, and receiving of information about Federal agencies’ security vulnerabilities and the coordinate resolutions of the reported vulnerabilities. OMB will provide the policies and principles and DHS will develop and issue the procedures necessary to implement NIST’s guidelines on coordinated vulnerability disclosure for Federal agencies. The bill includes a provision allowing Federal agency heads to waive the IoT use and management requirements issued by OMB for national security, functionality, alternative means, or economic reasons.

CBO Cost Estimate: Using information from NIST, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $35 million over the 2019-2024 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.

In 2020, CBO estimates that NIST and OMB would spend a total of $11 million to develop the IoT guidelines and standards. Of that amount CBO estimates that NIST would spend a little more than $3 million to hire 11 employees and that OMB would spend about $350,000 to hire 2 employees. Those newly hired NIST staff would develop the new federal guidelines and provide technical assistance to federal agencies. In addition, CBO estimates that NIST would spend a little more than $3 million to hire contractors and convene workshops to assist with guideline development. Finally, CBO estimates that NIST would spend around $4 million to update their National Vulnerability Database (NVD) to account for the vulnerability of IoT data.

After 2020, CBO estimates that NIST and OMB would spend approximately $6 million annually to update the IoT guidelines and standards, report to Congress, and further update the NVD.

For more information, contact:
Jerry Chouinard
Deep Water Point Legislative Affairs Lead
jerry.chouinard@deepwaterpoint.com

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APPROPRIATIONS/BUDGET NEWS

Before the August recess, the House Committee on Appropriations acted on HR 3931, the FY 2020 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The full House has not yet acted on this legislation and is not likely to.  Action will await inclusion as part of whatever Omnibus legislation comes to pass. Some highlights of this bill:

1. In the Management Directorate account, $223.7 million for phase two construction of a headquarters facility.
2. $116.3 million for financial systems modernization.
3. $10.3 million for the HIRT program.
4. $20.6 million for Federal cybersecurity to accelerate data protection for the CDM program.

[su_button url=”https://www.deepwaterpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FY-20-House-Funding-for-DHS.pdf” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#777e85″]View Full Report[/su_button]

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FY20 House Funding

The House of Representatives recently passed the FY 2020 Transportation/HUD Appropriations Act (HR 3163).   Included in this legislation is funding in the amount of $300 million for HUD’s Cybersecurity and Information Technology Fund.  This is $20 million more than requested and is specifically for the Federal Housing Administration’s IT for the purposes of improving operations, data security and financial risk assessment, and program performance, and eliminating fraud.

[su_button url=”https://www.deepwaterpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FY-20-House-Funding-for-HUD-Cybersecurity-and-IT-Fund.pdf” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#777e85″]View Full Report[/su_button]

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FY2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. This legislation provides annual funding for the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, the General Services Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and several other independent agencies.

This legislation is scheduled for the House Floor this week. A summary of the recommendations is attached. Some highlights:

• Provides $18 million for the Cybersecurity Enhancement Account
• Provides $7.7 million for Bureau of the Fiscal Service for IT modernization
• Provides $290 million for the Business System Modernization program
• Provides $12.8 million for IT infrastructure with the Executive Office of the President

[su_button url=”https://www.deepwaterpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/FY-20-House-Financial-Services-GSA-Funding.pdf” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#777e85″]View Full Analysis[/su_button]

For more information, contact:
Jerry Chouinard
Deep Water Point Legislative Affairs Lead
jerry.chouinard@deepwaterpoint.com

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