APPROPRIATIONS/BUDGET NEWS
FY 2019 Housing and Urban Development Appropriations IT Fund
(HJ Res. 31) February 2019
The Congress has approved the FY 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Bill. This legislation includes Division G – The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2019.
The agreement provides funding of $280 million for the information technology fund of HUD, compared to the budget request of $260 million and the $240 million recommended by the House, of which $260 million is available until September 30, 2020, and $20 million is available until September 30, 2021. This funding is provided under the following provisos:
- Provided, that any amounts transferred to this Fund under this Act shall remain available until expended:
- Provided further, that any amounts transferred to this Fund from amounts appropriated by previously enacted appropriations Acts may be used for the purposes specified under this Fund, in addition to any other information technology purposes for which such amounts were appropriated:
- Provided further, that not more than 10 percent of the funds made available under this heading for development, modernization and enhancement may be obligated until the Secretary submits to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, for approval, a plan for expenditure that –
(A) identifies for each modernization project: (i) the functional and performance capabilities to be delivered and the mission benefits to be realized, (ii) the estimated life-cycle cost, and (iii) key milestones to be met; and
(B) demonstrates that each modernization project is: (i) compliant with the Department’s enterprise architecture, (ii) being managed in accordance with applicable life-cycle management policies and guidance, (iii) subject to the Department’ s capital planning and investment control requirements, and (iv) supported by an adequately staffed project office.
The Senate Appropriations Committee made the following comments in its Senate Report 115-268:
HUD Information Technology Modernization. — The Committee remains supportive of HUD’s efforts to modernize its IT systems, which are critical to effectively manage its programs. For years, HUD has been hampered by outdated IT systems that are not integrated, which limit its ability to oversee grantees. In addition, HUD’s efforts to work around system limitations to collect information for oversight purposes often results in increased work for grantees who have to input information into multiple systems. While HUD has undertaken efforts to better integrate systems, the Committee remains concerned that non-mission-critical development activities are occurring at the expense of mission critical IT systems.
Unsanctioned Information Technology Development. — The Committee remains concerned about the development of IT systems out-side of the Information Technology Fund. While the Committee understands that limited resources may prompt HUD offices to develop solutions with their own resources, the Committee expects that, at a minimum, OCIO will monitor and oversee the development of any such solutions. The Committee directs the OCIO to monitor the development of new system solutions by every office in HUD to make sure they conform to HUD’s enterprise architecture and will be compatible with systems under development.
The House Committee on Appropriations made the following comments in its House Report 115-750:
The Committee strongly urges HUD to continue refining the services and contracts under the Department’s Working Capital Fund so that IT services can be funded by the users.
The Committee directs HUD to continue with efforts to retire obsolete, unproductive, and expensive information technology systems, and streamline and consolidate current services contracts in an effort to direct resources for higher priority and more effective systems. The Committee commends the Department’s efforts for a Department-wide technology assessment of all applications and platforms used at HUD, and recommends the savings found from the consolidation and simplification of the architecture go towards the development, modernization, and enhancement of HUD’s IT systems.
For more information, contact:
Jerry Chouinard
Deep Water Point Legislative Affairs Lead
jerry.chouinard@deepwaterpoint.com
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