Subscribe to the Free Print Edition!
Celebrating 25 Years

GCN Home > 07/03/06 issue

IT projects take a hit on funding

Some say technology is targeted as war, other priorities draw away funds

By Rob Thormeyer, GCN Staff

Office of Personnel Management officials were stunned when the funding for the massive Retirement Systems Modernization project went missing from the House appropriations bill sent to the Senate last month.

OPM director Linda Springer quickly sent a note to the House Appropriations Committee after the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary and the District of Columbia passed its fiscal 2007 bill of the same name—HR 5576—without the $26.7 million requested for RSM.

Springer was vexed that Congress would consider leaving out funding for a system that could revolutionize how her agency provides retirement and benefits support for government workers, especially considering that OPM recently awarded two contracts for the 10-year, over $300 million project.

“This commitment to technology, as well as to current and future federal employees, will be halted without adequate funding in fiscal year 2007—a critical measure of support for the modernization project, which is scheduled to be completed in fiscal year 2009,” she wrote.

Springer’s assertion did not sway the full committee or the House.

Although most Hill observers expect the Senate to restore the funding when they take up the bill this summer, Congress’ willingness to consider gutting a program considered essential for government employees has some industry and government officials wondering if lawmakers are targeting civilian IT projects for cuts because of the ongoing effort to fund the War on Terror.

Besides OPM, other agencies—including the Army and the Homeland Security and the Agriculture departments—have seen funding scaled back for IT programs perceived as nonessential, industry observers said. This is despite the fact that, overall, most agencies will see an increase, if a small one, over 2006 levels—and in most cases, more funding that the administration requested.

‘No’ and ‘no’

“From inside some of the agencies, I am hearing that the directions they are receiving during the budget development process [are], ‘No new projects, no additional funds,’ and that some projects are either being scaled back significantly or being put on hold altogether,” said Alan Webber, senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.

Tightened budgets during a war are nothing new; many government initiatives lose steam as war efforts consume more funds. Spending for both world wars was so dramatic that it even changed how civilians spent their money, and President Lyndon Johnson was unsuccessful in his attempts to fund both the Vietnam War and the War on Poverty at the same time.

More news on related topics: IT Management



GCN Popup