Senators Hassan and Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Tackle Outdated Technology in Federal Government & Save Taxpayer Dollars

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Chair of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee, and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), introduced the Legacy IT Reduction Act of 2022. The bill would reduce the federal government’s reliance on outdated and obsolete technology, which in turn will help reduce costs, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve customer experience for taxpayers.

“Updating government technology will save taxpayer dollars, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve Americans’ interactions with federal agencies,” said Senator Hassan. “This commonsense, bipartisan bill with Senator Cornyn will help ensure that the federal government isn’t wasting taxpayer dollars or risking a cyberattack simply because it hasn’t updated the necessary technology systems. All Americans know the frustration of trying to use an old computer that is too slow or isn’t compatible with the newest, securest software – now imagine the entire federal government trying to serve Americans using such technology. This bipartisan bill will help ensure that agencies act to update critical technology and better serve the American people.”

The bill addresses the needs that Senator Hassan has identified through her efforts to cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. In June 2020, Senator Hassan sent oversight letters to 10 different agencies asking them how they plan to modernize their most vulnerable and costly legacy IT systems, and later held multiple hearings on the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee to discuss the challenges of legacy IT and solutions. 

The Legacy IT Reduction Act of 2022 takes a number of steps to modernize government technology, including by:

• Requiring agencies to develop an inventory of legacy IT systems;
• Requiring agencies to write modernization plans to update or dispose of their legacy IT systems; and
• Requiring the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to assist agencies with identifying legacy IT and modernizing it.

Read the text of the bill here.

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