State and Local Digital Service Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1957 To establish digital services in State, county, local, and Tribal governments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 28 (legislative day, MAY 27), 2021 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. PADILLA) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To establish digital services in State, county, local, and Tribal governments, 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 ‘‘State and Local Digital 4 Service Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 8 ministrator of General Services; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1957 IS (2) the term ‘‘digital service grant’’ means a 1 grant under section 3(a); 2 (3) the term ‘‘digital service planning grant’’ 3 means a grant under section 4(a); 4 (4) the term ‘‘digital service team’’ means a 5 team of employees of an eligible applicant that— 6 (A) extends existing software development 7 capacity and provides digital consultancy serv- 8 ices, focusing on user-centered design and de- 9 velopment practices through the use of modern 10 product development techniques, such as— 11 (i) user research and design; 12 (ii) incremental and iterative outcome 13 driven delivery practices; and 14 (iii) software development procure- 15 ment practices that rely on small-dollar, 16 short-duration contracts; and 17 (B) enhances the delivery of services by the 18 eligible applicant through partnerships or em- 19 bedding the employees within other agencies of 20 the eligible applicant; 21 (5) the term ‘‘eligible applicant’’ means a State, 22 Indian Tribe, or unit of local government; 23 (6) the term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning 24 given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in section 4(e) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1957 IS Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 1 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)); 2 (7) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 3 that term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 4 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10251); 6 (8) the term ‘‘underserved or disadvantaged 7 community’’ means— 8 (A) a low-income community; 9 (B) a community of color; 10 (C) a Tribal community; 11 (D) a rural community; 12 (E) aging individuals; 13 (F) veterans; 14 (G) individuals with disabilities; 15 (H) individuals with a language barrier, in- 16 cluding individuals who— 17 (i) are English learners; or 18 (ii) have low levels of literacy; or 19 (I) any other community that the Adminis- 20 trator determines is disproportionately vulner- 21 able to, or bears a disproportionate burden of, 22 any combination of economic, social, environ- 23 mental, or climate stressors; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1957 IS (9) the term ‘‘unit of local government’’ means 1 a city, county, township, town, borough, parish, vil- 2 lage, or other general purpose political subdivision of 3 a State. 4 SEC. 3. DIGITAL SERVICE GRANTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta- 6 tion with the Administrator of the United States Digital 7 Service, shall establish a Digital Service Grant Program, 8 under which the Administrator shall make grants to eligi- 9 ble applicants in accordance with the requirements of this 10 section for the purpose of establishing or supporting a dig- 11 ital service team. 12 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible applicant desiring a 13 digital service grant shall submit an application at such 14 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 15 the Administrator may specify. 16 (c) INITIAL GRANT PREFERENCE.—Among eligible 17 applicants that have not previously received a digital serv- 18 ice grant, the Administrator shall give preference to an 19 eligible applicant if— 20 (1) the chief executive officer of the eligible ap- 21 plicant has publicly demonstrated a commitment to 22 modernizing government technology and service de- 23 livery; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1957 IS (2) the eligible applicant has officially des- 1 ignated an officer of the eligible applicant to have 2 responsibility for functions relating to the digital 3 services of the eligible applicant, such as a Chief 4 Technology Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, or 5 Chief Digital Services Officer, and such functions 6 are recognized as distinct from management and op- 7 erations of traditional information technology; 8 (3) the eligible applicant demonstrates a rig- 9 orous commitment to human-centered delivery of 10 government services in such manner as the Adminis- 11 trator determines appropriate; 12 (4) the eligible applicant articulates clearly a 13 specific benefits program of the Federal Government 14 with respect to which the eligible applicant, in col- 15 laboration with the relevant Federal agency, intends 16 to modernize the digital delivery of government serv- 17 ices by the eligible applicant; or 18 (5) the eligible applicant articulates clearly how 19 the eligible applicant will use amounts received 20 under the grant to improve the digital delivery of 21 government services to underserved or disadvantaged 22 communities. 23 (d) CONTINUING GRANTS.—The Administrator may 24 make not more than 2 additional digital service grants to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1957 IS an eligible applicant that has previously received a digital 1 service grant if the eligible applicant— 2 (1) has a demonstrated record of successful dig- 3 ital delivery of government services, including 4 through the use of the most recent prior digital serv- 5 ice grant; and 6 (2) articulates clearly the government service 7 delivery projects the eligible applicant would carry 8 out with the grant. 9 (e) GRANT PERIOD.—The Administrator shall award 10 digital service grants for a period of not more than 3 11 years. 12 (f) CONTINUITY OF FUNDING.—To the maximum ex- 13 tent practicable, the Administrator shall award digital 14 service grants described in subsection (d) in a manner that 15 ensures that there is not a break in funding— 16 (1) between the initial digital service grant de- 17 scribed in subsection (c) and the first grant de- 18 scribed in subsection (d); or 19 (2) between the first grant described in sub- 20 section (d) and the second grant described in sub- 21 section (d). 22 (g) GRANT AMOUNT.—The annual amount of a dig- 23 ital service grant shall be equal to the lesser of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1957 IS (1) in dollars, the amount equal to the sum 1 of— 2 (A) the population served by the eligible 3 applicant; and 4 (B) 200,000; or 5 (2) $3,000,000. 6 (h) USE OF FUNDS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 50 percent of 8 the amount received under a digital service grant 9 shall be used for salary and benefits of the members 10 of the digital service team. 11 (2) ACCESSIBILITY.—An eligible applicant that 12 receives a digital service grant shall make public 13 services improved by a digital service team of the eli- 14 gible applicant available in an accessible format, 15 compliant with the most recent Web Content Acces- 16 sibility Guidelines of the Web Accessibility Initiative, 17 or successor guidelines. 18 (i) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 20 graph (2), the Federal share of an activity carried 21 out using a digital service grant shall be not more 22 than 90 percent. 23 (2) WAIVER.—Upon application by an eligible 24 applicant, the Administrator may waive the require- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1957 IS ment under paragraph (1) if the Administrator de- 1 termines that the eligible applicant demonstrates fi- 2 nancial need. 3 (j) PROCUREMENT BEST PRACTICES.—The digital 4 service team of an eligible applicant that receives a grant 5 under this section shall work with the United States Dig- 6 ital Service and the 18F office within the General Services 7 Administration to establish procurement best practices 8 based on Federal best practices, such as the 18F office’s 9 budgeting handbook, and the individual needs of the eligi- 10 ble applicant. 11 (k) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A digital service 12 grant to an eligible applicant shall supplement, not sup- 13 plant, other Federal, State, local, or Tribal funds that are 14 available to the eligible applicant to carry out activities 15 described in this section. 16 (l) SET ASIDES.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 18 able in a fiscal year to carry out the Digital Service 19 Grant Program under this section, the Adminis- 20 trator shall reserve 5 percent for the implementation 21 and administration of the grant program, which 22 shall include— 23 (A) providing technical support and assist- 24 ance; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1957 IS (B) providing assistance to eligible appli- 1 cants to prepare applications for digital service 2 grants; 3 (C) assisting eligible applicants in pre- 4 paring and submitting the reports required 5 under section 5(a); 6 (D) collecting demographic data about 7 grant applicants, grant recipients, and popu- 8 lations served; and 9 (E) conducting outreach to eligible appli- 10 cants regarding opportunities to apply for dig- 11 ital service grants. 12 (2) INDIAN TRIBES.—From amounts made 13 available in a fiscal year to carry out the Digital 14 Service Grant Program under this section, the Ad- 15 ministrator shall use not less than $10,000,000 for 16 grants to eligible applicants that are Indian Tribes. 17 SEC. 4. DIGITAL SERVICE PLANNING GRANTS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta- 19 tion with the Administrator of the United States Digital 20 Service, shall establish a Digital Service Planning Grant 21 Program under which the Administrator shall make 22 grants to eligible applicants in accordance with the re- 23 quirements of this section for the purpose of creating a 24 plan to establish a digital service team. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1957 IS (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible applicant desiring a 1 digital service planning grant shall submit an application 2 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor- 3 mation as the Administrator may specify. 4 (c) GRANT PERIOD.—The Administrator shall award 5 digital service planning grants for a period of 1 year. 6 (d) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a digital serv- 7 ice grant shall be not less than $50,000 and not more than 8 $200,000. 9 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 11 graph (2), the Federal share of an activity carried 12 out using a digital service planning grant shall be 13 not more than 90 percent. 14 (2) WAIVER.—Upon application by an eligible 15 applicant, the Administrator may waive the require- 16 ment under paragraph (1) if the Administrator de- 17 termines that the eligible applicant demonstrates fi- 18 nancial need. 19 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A digital service 20 planning grant to an eligible applicant shall supplement, 21 not supplant, other Federal, State, local, or Tribal funds 22 that are available to the eligible applicant to create a plan 23 to establish a digital service team. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1957 IS (g) SET ASIDES.—From amounts made available in 1 a fiscal year to carry out the Digital Service Planning 2 Grant Program under this section, the Administrator shall 3 reserve 5 percent for the implementation and administra- 4 tion of the grant program, which shall include— 5 (1) providing technical support and assistance; 6 (2) providing assistance to eligible applicants to 7 prepare applications for digital service planning 8 grants; 9 (3) assisting eligible applicants in preparing 10 and submitting the reports required under section 11 5(a); and 12 (4) conducting outreach to eligible applicants 13 regarding opportunities to apply for digital service 14 planning grants. 15 SEC. 5. REPORTING AND EVALUATION. 16 (a) RECIPIENTS.— 17 (1) DIGITAL SERVICE GRANT REPORT.—Not 18 later than the end of the period of a digital service 19 grant, the recipient of the digital service grant shall 20 submit to the Administrator and make publicly 21 available on the website of the recipient a brief re- 22 port describing— 23 (A) the skills and areas of expertise of the 24 members of the digital service team established 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:15 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1957.IS S1957 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1957 IS or supported using amounts made available 1 under the grant; 2 (B) projects undertaken using amounts 3 made available under the grant, including a dis- 4 cussion of the impact of those projects; 5 (C) lessons learned from implementing the 6 projects described in subparagraph (B); 7 (D) human-centered measurements of how 8 well the projects described in subparagraph (B) 9 help the people they serve; 10 (E) the information technology and deliv- 11 ery projects the recipient intends to implement 12 next; and 13 (F) any other information determined ap- 14 propriate by the Administrator. 15 (2) DIGITAL SERVICE PLANNING GRANT RE- 16 PORT.—Not later than the end of the period of a 17 digital service planning grant, the recipient of the 18 digital service planning grant shall submit to the Ad- 19 ministrator and make publicly available on the 20 website of the recipient a brief report describing— 21 (A) a summary of the plan developed using 22 amoun [Text truncated for display. 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