Digital Service Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 848 To establish digital services in State and local governments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Ms. HARRIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To establish digital services in State and local 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 ‘‘Digital Service Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 8 ministrator of the United States Digital Service; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 848 IS (2) the term ‘‘digital service grant’’ means a 1 grant under section 3(a); 2 (3) the term ‘‘digital service team’’ means a 3 team of technologists, designers, civil servants, and 4 other relevant experts dedicated to modernizing the 5 delivery of government services to the public through 6 information technology; 7 (4) the term ‘‘eligible applicant’’ means a State, 8 Indian Tribe, or unit of local government that has 9 received not more than 1 digital service grant; 10 (5) the term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning 11 given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in section 4(e) of the 12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)); 14 (6) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 15 that term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 16 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 17 U.S.C. 10251); and 18 (7) the term ‘‘unit of local government’’ means 19 a city, county, township, town, borough, parish, vil- 20 lage, or other general purpose political subdivision of 21 a State. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 848 IS SEC. 3. DIGITAL SERVICE GRANTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may make a 2 grant to an eligible applicant to establish or support a dig- 3 ital service team. 4 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible applicant desiring a 5 digital service grant shall submit an application at such 6 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 7 the Administrator may specify. 8 (c) INITIAL GRANT PREFERENCE.—Among eligible 9 applicants that have not previously received a digital serv- 10 ice grant, the Administrator shall give preference to an 11 eligible applicant if— 12 (1) the chief executive officer of the eligible en- 13 tity has publicly demonstrated a commitment to 14 modernizing government technology and service de- 15 livery; 16 (2) the eligible entity has officially designated 17 an officer of the eligible entity to have responsibility 18 for functions relating to the digital services of the el- 19 igible entity, such as a Chief Technology Officer, 20 Chief Innovation Officer, or Chief Digital Services 21 Officer, and such functions are recognized as dis- 22 tinct from management and operations of traditional 23 information technology; or 24 (3) the eligible entity demonstrates a rigorous 25 commitment to digital delivery of government serv- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 848 IS ices in such manner as the Administrator determines 1 appropriate. 2 (d) CONTINUING GRANTS.—The Administrator may 3 make not more than 1 additional digital service grant to 4 an eligible applicant that has previously received a digital 5 service grant if the eligible applicant— 6 (1) has a demonstrated record of successful dig- 7 ital delivery of government services, including 8 through the use of the first digital service grant; and 9 (2) articulates clearly the government service 10 delivery projects the eligible applicant would carry 11 out with the grant. 12 (e) GRANT PERIOD.—The Administrator shall award 13 digital service grants for a period of 2 years. 14 (f) CONTINUITY OF FUNDING.—To the maximum ex- 15 tent practicable, the Administrator shall award digital 16 service grants described in subsection (d) in a manner that 17 ensures that there is not a break in funding between the 18 initial digital service grant and the grant described in sub- 19 section (d). 20 (g) GRANT AMOUNT.—The annual amount of a dig- 21 ital service grant shall be equal to the lesser of— 22 (1) in dollars, the amount equal to the sum 23 of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 848 IS (A) the population served by the eligible 1 applicant; and 2 (B) 200,000; or 3 (2) $2,500,000. 4 (h) USE OF FUNDS.—Not less than 50 percent of the 5 amount received under a digital service grant shall be used 6 for salary and benefits of the members of the digital serv- 7 ice team. 8 (i) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Federal share of 9 an activity carried out using a digital service grant shall 10 be not more than 80 percent. 11 SEC. 4. REPORTING. 12 (a) BY RECIPIENTS.—Not later than the end of the 13 period of a digital service grant, the recipient of the digital 14 service grant shall submit to the Administrator and make 15 publicly available on the website of the recipient a brief 16 report describing— 17 (1) the skills and areas of expertise of the mem- 18 bers of the digital service team established or sup- 19 ported using amounts made available under the 20 grant; 21 (2) projects undertaken using amounts made 22 available under the grant, including a discussion of 23 the impact of those projects; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 848 IS (3) lessons learned from implementing the 1 projects described in paragraph (2); 2 (4) the information technology projects the re- 3 cipient intends to implement next; and 4 (5) any other information determined appro- 5 priate by the Administrator. 6 (b) TO CONGRESS AND PUBLIC.—Not later than Sep- 7 tember 30, 2022, and every 2 years thereafter, the Admin- 8 istrator shall submit to Congress and make publicly avail- 9 able on the website of the United States Digital Service 10 a report that summarizes— 11 (1) the digital service grants applied for and 12 made; and 13 (2) the uses and impacts of digital service 14 grants, based on the reports received under sub- 15 section (a). 16 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17 (a) AMOUNTS TO CARRY OUT THIS ACT.—There are 18 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 19 carry out this Act $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20 2020 through 2027. 21 (b) AMOUNTS TO CARRY OUT THE MISSION OF THE 22 USDS.—In addition to the amounts authorized to be ap- 23 propriated under subsection (a), there are authorized to 24 be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the mis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 848 IS sion of the United States Digital Service $50,000,000 for 1 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2027. 2 (c) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available pursu- 3 ant to subsections (a) and (b) shall remain available until 4 expended. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S848.IS S848 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS