Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 731 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the management of information technology projects and investments of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. SINEMA, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the management of information technology projects and in- vestments of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet- 4 erans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act of 5 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 731 IS SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR INFORMATION TECH- 1 NOLOGY PROJECTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 81 of title 38, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing new subchapter: 5 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—INFORMATION 6 TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES 7 ‘‘§ 8171. Definitions 8 ‘‘In this subchapter: 9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriate congressional com- 10 mittees’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 12 and the Subcommittee on Military Construc- 13 tion, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies of 14 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 15 and 16 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 17 and the Subcommittee on Military Construc- 18 tion, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies of 19 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 20 of Representatives. 21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘information technology’ has the 22 meaning given that term in section 11101 of title 23 40. 24 ‘‘(3) The term ‘information technology project’ 25 means a project or program of the Department (in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 731 IS cluding a project or program of any element of the 1 Department) for, or including, the acquisition or im- 2 plementation of an information technology system. 3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘life cycle costs’ means all direct 4 and indirect costs to acquire, implement, operate, 5 and maintain an information technology system. 6 ‘‘(5) The term ‘major information technology 7 project’ means an information technology project 8 if— 9 ‘‘(A) the project is designated— 10 ‘‘(i) by the Secretary or the Chief In- 11 formation Officer of the Department as a 12 major information technology project; or 13 ‘‘(ii) by the Director of the Office of 14 Management and Budget as a major infor- 15 mation technology investment, as defined 16 in section 11302 of title 40; 17 ‘‘(B) the dollar value of the project or pro- 18 gram is estimated by the Secretary to exceed— 19 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 (as adjusted for in- 20 flation pursuant to section 1908 of title 21 41) for all project costs in a single fiscal 22 year; 23 ‘‘(ii) $200,000,000 (as adjusted for 24 inflation pursuant to section 1908 of title 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 731 IS 41) for all project acquisition or implemen- 1 tation costs for the duration of the project; 2 or 3 ‘‘(iii) $500,000,000 (as adjusted for 4 inflation pursuant to section 1908 of title 5 41) for the total life cycle costs of the 6 project; or 7 ‘‘(C) any increment of the project sepa- 8 rately meets the requirements of subparagraphs 9 (A) or (B). 10 ‘‘§ 8172. Management of major information tech- 11 nology projects 12 ‘‘(a) COST, SCHEDULE, AND PERFORMANCE INFOR- 13 MATION.—(1) The Secretary may not obligate or expend 14 funds for any major information technology project that 15 begins after the date of the enactment of the Department 16 of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act 17 of 2021 unless the Secretary, acting through the Chief In- 18 formation Officer of the Department, submits to the ap- 19 propriate congressional committees a report containing in- 20 formation on the cost, schedule, and performance of such 21 project. 22 ‘‘(2) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) for 23 a project shall include, with respect to such project, the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 731 IS ‘‘(A) An estimate of acquisition, implementa- 1 tion, and life cycle costs. 2 ‘‘(B) An intended implementation schedule indi- 3 cating significant milestones, initial operating capa- 4 bility, and full operating capability or completion. 5 ‘‘(C) Key business, functional, and performance 6 objectives. 7 ‘‘(b) BASELINE.—(1) The Secretary shall use the in- 8 formation on the cost, schedule, and performance of a 9 major information technology project included in the re- 10 port under subsection (a) as the baseline against which 11 changes or variances are measured during the life cycle 12 of such project. 13 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall— 14 ‘‘(A) annually update the baseline of a major 15 information technology project pursuant to sub- 16 section (c); and 17 ‘‘(B) include such updated baseline in the docu- 18 ments providing detailed information on the budget 19 for the Department that the Secretary submits to 20 Congress in conjunction with the President’s budget 21 submission pursuant to section 1105 of title 31. 22 ‘‘(c) CHANGES AND VARIANCES.—(1) Not later than 23 60 days after the date on which the Secretary identifies 24 a change or variance described in paragraph (2) in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 731 IS cost, schedule, or performance of a major information 1 technology project, the Secretary, acting through the Chief 2 Information Officer, shall submit to the appropriate con- 3 gressional committees a notification of such change or 4 variance, including a description and explanation for such 5 change or variance. 6 ‘‘(2) A change or variance in the cost, schedule, or 7 performance of a major information technology project de- 8 scribed in this paragraph is— 9 ‘‘(A) with respect to the acquisition, implemen- 10 tation, or life cycle cost of the project, or an incre- 11 ment therein, a change or variance that is 10 per- 12 cent or greater compared to the baseline; 13 ‘‘(B) with respect to the schedule for achieving 14 a significant milestone, initial operating capability, 15 or final completion of the project, a change or vari- 16 ance that is 180 days or greater compared to the 17 baseline; or 18 ‘‘(C) with respect to the performance, an in- 19 stance where a key business, functional, or perform- 20 ance objective is not attained, or is not anticipated 21 to be attained, in whole or in part. 22 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall ensure 23 that each major information technology project is man- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 731 IS aged by an interdisciplinary team consisting of the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(1) A project manager who is— 3 ‘‘(A) certified in project management at 4 level three by the Department or the Depart- 5 ment of Defense pursuant to section 1701a of 6 title 10, or who holds an equivalent certification 7 by a private sector project management certifi- 8 cation organization, as determined appropriate 9 by the Secretary; and 10 ‘‘(B) an employee of the Office of Informa- 11 tion and Technology of the Department or an 12 employee of an element of the Department at 13 which the project originates. 14 ‘‘(2) A functional lead who is an employee of 15 the element of the Department at which the project 16 originates. 17 ‘‘(3) A technical lead who is an employee of the 18 Office of Information and Technology of the Depart- 19 ment. 20 ‘‘(4) A contracting officer. 21 ‘‘(5) Sufficient other project management, func- 22 tional, technical, and procurement personnel as the 23 Secretary determines appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 731 IS ‘‘§ 8173. Information technology activities of the Fi- 1 nancial Services Center 2 ‘‘(a) MANAGEMENT.—Consistent with sections 11302 3 and 11319 of title 40— 4 ‘‘(1) the Chief Information Officer of the De- 5 partment shall— 6 ‘‘(A) exercise authority over the manage- 7 ment, governance, and oversight processes relat- 8 ing to information technology of the Financial 9 Services Center of the Department, or such suc- 10 cessor office; and 11 ‘‘(B) supervise the information technology 12 employees and contractors of the Financial 13 Services Center; and 14 ‘‘(2) the Director of the Financial Services Cen- 15 ter of the Department, or the head of such successor 16 office, may not enter into a contract or other agree- 17 ment for information technology or information tech- 18 nology services unless the contract or other agree- 19 ment has been reviewed and approved by the Chief 20 Information Officer. 21 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT.—The Chief Information Officer 22 shall have oversight and operational authority over all in- 23 formation security practices of the Financial Services Cen- 24 ter of the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 731 IS ‘‘§ 8174. Submission of annual reviews of information 1 technology 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 3 the Chief Information Officer of the Department, shall 4 submit to the appropriate congressional committees each 5 annual review of the information technology portfolio of 6 the Department conducted pursuant to section 7 11319(d)(3) of title 40. 8 ‘‘(b) FIRST SUBMISSION.—The first annual review 9 submitted under subsection (a) shall include a copy of 10 each previous annual review conducted under section 11 11319(d)(3) of title 40. 12 ‘‘§ 8175. Information technology matters to be in- 13 cluded in budget justification materials 14 for the Department 15 ‘‘(a) LIST OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS 16 IN EFFECT.—(1) The Secretary shall ensure that when- 17 ever the budget justification materials are submitted to 18 Congress in support of the Department budget for a fiscal 19 year (as submitted with the budget of the President for 20 such fiscal year under section 1105(a) of title 31), such 21 budget justification materials include a list of every infor- 22 mation technology project currently in effect at the De- 23 partment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 731 IS ‘‘(2) Each list included under paragraph (1) shall in- 1 clude, for each information technology project included in 2 the list, the following: 3 ‘‘(A) The expenditures to date. 4 ‘‘(B) Planned expenditures for the upcoming 5 fiscal year. 6 ‘‘(C) The scheduled completion date. 7 ‘‘(D) Any known deviation from the schedule, 8 such as whether the information technology project 9 is behind schedule. 10 ‘‘(E) The planned or actual functionality deliv- 11 ered. 12 ‘‘(b) PRIORITIZED LIST OF UNFUNDED PROJECTS.— 13 (1) In addition to the list included in the budget justifica- 14 tion materials required by subsection (a), the Secretary 15 shall ensure that the budget justification materials de- 16 scribed in such subsection also include a prioritized list, 17 in rank order, of every proposed project of the Department 18 that is unfunded as of the time of the inclusion of the 19 list under this paragraph. 20 ‘‘(2) In producing the list required by paragraph (1), 21 the Secretary shall— 22 ‘‘(A) ensure such list represents a ranking of all 23 proposed projects that reflects the needs of all com- 24 ponents of the Department; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 731 IS ‘‘(B) produce one unified list for the entire De- 1 partment that shows how the various proposed 2 projects of each of the components of the Depart- 3 ment rank in priority with the projects of the other 4 components of the Department; and 5 ‘‘(C) ensure that the list— 6 ‘‘(i) does not disaggregate and rank 7 projects based on component of the Depart- 8 ment; and 9 ‘‘(ii) does identify the component of the 10 Department requesting the information tech- 11 nology project. 12 ‘‘(3)(A) In producing each list under paragraph (1), 13 the Secretary shall prioritize and rank each information 14 technology project based on an assessment of each of the 15 following factors: 16 ‘‘(i) Tangible benefits to veterans created or 17 produced by the information technology project. 18 ‘‘(ii) Operational or efficiency benefits to em- 19 ployees of the Department created or produced by 20 the information technology project. 21 ‘‘(iii) The cost of the information technology 22 project. 23 ‘‘(iv) The cost savings or cost avoidance yielded 24 by the information technology project. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:08 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S731.IS S731 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 731 IS ‘‘(v) Time to completion of the information 1 technology project. 2 ‘‘(vi) The difficulty of the information tech- 3 nology project, the likelihood the information tech- 4 nology project will be completed, or the risks associ- 5 ated with undertaking the information technology 6 project. 7 ‘‘(vii) Such other factors as the Secretary con- 8 siders appropriate. 9 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall ensure that each list pro- 10 duced under paragraph (1) includes, for each information 11 technology project included in the list, a brief description 12 of the findings of the Secretary with respect to each as- 13 sessment carried out by the Secretary for each factor for 14 the information technology project under subparagraph 15 (A). 16 ‘‘(c) PROJECTED FUNDING NEEDS.—(1) In addition 17 to the matters included under subsections (a) and (b), the 18 Secretary shall ensure that the budget justification mate- 19 rials described in subsection (a) also include a projection 20 of the one-year, five-year, and 10-year funding needs of 21 the Depa [Text truncated for display. 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