GSA may have caused agencies to violate bona fide rule

The General Services Administration might have caused agencies to inadvertently break the rule restricting the use of one fiscal year's funds for services rendered in another.

In a report dated Sept. 13, the GSA inspector general says the agency's HSPD-12 managed service office set up an interagency agreement for other federal entities to purchase private sector support in implementing the homeland security presidential directive, which requires standardized identity cards for government workers.

The GSA office has treated HSPD-12 support as a "nonseverable" service, meaning that GSA said the value of the service depends on a discrete outcome, such as is the case with a research project. With a nonseverable service, the benefit of the service isn't realized until the project reaches completion.
However, the Government Accountability Office ruled (.pdf) last December that the HSPD-12 services in question are in fact "severable." That is, they are recurring in nature, which means that the value of the service doesn't depend on a single outcome as with a research report, but is realized periodically through the life of the service contract. Other examples of severable services include janitorial work and help desk support--the value of the service contract is incrementally realized every time a bathroom floor gets mopped.

The difference between "nonseverable" and "severable" matters because of something called the bona fide rule of federal spending, which is meant to uphold the part of the Constitution that prevents federal agencies from spending money without congressional approval. The bona fide rule states that a federal agency can spend money tied to a particular fiscal year only for needs which it has during that current fiscal year. That is, agencies must have a sincere (a bona fide) reason for spending current fiscal year money, the sincerity (the bona fideness) measured by its current, not future, needs.

For future needs, Congress demands the right to evaluate their legitimacy via an annual appropriations bill. The bona fide rule should make it impossible for a federal agency to use funds appropriated this fiscal year for something it won't need until the next fiscal year.

However, agencies are allowed to fully fund nonseverable service contracts with current fiscal year appropriations, even if their outcome will occur in future fiscal years. They are also allowed to fund severable service contracts with current fiscal year funds for a period of up to 12 months, even if that 12 month period crossed the federal fiscal year, which starts every Oct. 1. (We are in the final weeks of fiscal 2010.)

However, the 12 month rule for severable services also means that a contract for them cannot be open-ended with respect to the period of performance--exactly as the GSA interagency agreement was constructed, the GAO found. GSA officials told the GAO they consider HSPD-12 services to be nonseverable because each card has a life cycle consisting of a bundle of tasks, none of which would have value standing alone. However, the GAO ruled otherwise, stating that the services purchased via the GSA interagency agreement consist of two discrete undertakings--production of HSPD-12 identity cards, and maintenance of the cards. The latter is a severable service, the GAO said.

-David Perera, FierceGovernmentIT.com
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Evans: HSPD-12 program is not an unfunded mandate for agencies

The Office of Management and Budget and the information technology industry disagree about whether aspects of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) program are being properly funded.

By Oct. 27, federal agencies must issue digital credentials to all employees who have less than 15 years of service.

Vendors are worried, but OMB officials sound confident that agencies can pay for the mandatory personal identity verification program, known as HSPD-12.
“It’s not an unfunded mandate,” said Karen Evans, administrator of e-government and IT at OMB. “When [agencies] tell you that, that’s not true.”

Evans said agencies can restructure their major investments to pay for HSPD-12, which OMB has designated as a priority program. Agency officials are recategorizing their portfolios to reflect the new priority, Evans said.

A number of agency chief information officers agreed with Evans’ assessment that HSPD-12 does not put agencies in a difficult financial spot.

-Wade-Hahn Chan, FCW.com

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OMB checks progress on HSPD-12

The Office of Management and Budget has asked agencies to report on their progress toward issuing new employee identity cards, according to a recent memorandum.

By Jan. 19, agencies need to provide the General Services Administration with a sample credential so GSA can test it for possible problems. If problems are found, the agency must correct them within three weeks, according to the memo.

Starting March 1, agencies must report quarterly on their Web sites how many credentials they have issued.

The memo also states that IDs for employees working at the agency more than 15 years may be delayed until Oct. 27, 2008, but agencies must finish background checks on all other employees and contractors by Oct. 27, 2007.

-Mathew Weigelt, FCW.com

FederalNewsRadio - Ask the CIO - William Vajda (ED)

William E. Vajda
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
U.S. Department of Education

Mr. Vajda has served in a number of roles within the U.S. Government, NATO, and private industry, and has enjoyed a widely varied and unique career. Prior to joining The Department of Education, Bill served as Vice President with Washington-area high technology vendors, and as a private consultant and board member for a variety of non-profit organizations. Mr. Vajda was appointed to the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service by General Michael V. Hayden and served as the Associated Director for IT and Chief Information Officer with the National Security Agency for three years, starting on 9/11/2001. During his tenure, Mr. Vajda held global responsibility for NSA IT capabilities, and supported a number of successful transformational initiatives, including the GROUNDBREAKER and TRAILBLAZER programs, as well as supporting U.S. activities during the GWOT. Mr. Vajda also served for four years as a member of the U.S. Senior Executive Service with the Internal Revenue Service, and was appointed by Commissioner Charles Rossotti to serve as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Systems Development/Deputy CIO, as well as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner, International, during the organizational restructuring period of 1998 - 2001. Mr. Vajda was responsible for several initiatives, including Consolidation of all mainframe systems and remediation of all tax processing applications. Mr. Vajda spent 11 years in Europe in a variety of NATO and industry roles, including a diplomatic posting to the SHAPE Technical Centre/NATO C3 Agency, and he has been recognized as an international expert in the development and implementation of US and coalition intelligence and command and control systems in support of deployed operations. Mr. Vajda has earned this reputation through support to military operations during the First Gulf War; Somalia, Rwanda, and Bosnia, as well as several theaters of the GWOT. Mr. Vajda has over 20 years of executive leadership experience, and has been recognized with several significant Government and Industry awards, including a U.S. Vice Presidential Hammer Award, a Distinguished Service Medal, and an SES Presidential Meritorious Rank Award. Mr. Vajda has a considerable background in the Federal market space, and is a member of several industry groups, and has been sought after as a featured speaker with the Gartner Group, IAC, AFCEA, and several other conferences and events. Mr. Vajda is a graduate of Marquette Senior High School, and graduated with an A.B. and an M.P.P from the University of Michigan.

Brian Burns
Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO)
United States Department of Education

Brian P. Burns is the United States Department of Education (ED) Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO). Mr. Burns has 22 years of federal and commercial information management and technology service and product development experience including senior executive service positions as the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Chief Technology Officer for Infrastructure; the DOI Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Resources Management and CIO; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Resources Management and Deputy CIO; and U.S. Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service senior executive positions. His commercial experience includes Coleman Research Corp., BDM Federal, Inc. and IBM Corp.

Jerry Davis Director,
Information Assurance (IA) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
US Department of Education

Jerry Davis is the Director, Information Assurance (IA) for the US Department of Education and serves as the Department's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Jerry's role is to oversee all aspects of Information Security and Privacy for the Department to include the development and implementation of IT security policies and procedures, deliver IT security awareness training, provide an incident response and management capability and generate IT and data security solutions and services to the Department's customers and constituents. Jerry's team proactively defends over 500 million dollars in annual IT investments.

• How PIV cards keep IT -- and employees -- secure
• Taking the Department of Education into the future with IPv6

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FederalNewsRadio - Ask the CIO - David Wennergren (Navy)

Mr. David M. Wennergren serves as the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DON CIO), providing top-level advocacy in the development and use of information management/information technology (IM/IT) and creation of a unified IM/IT vision for the Navy - Marine Corps team. He develops strategies, policies, plans, architectures, standards, and guidance, and provides process transformation support for the entire Department of the Navy. Additionally, he ensures that the development and acquisition of IT systems are interoperable and consistent with the Department's vision. Mr. Wennergren is the Department's eGovernment and Knowledge Management champion, serves as the IM/IT workforce leader, addresses emerging technologies and issues, ensures the availability, integrity and protection of the Department's information systems, and serves as the Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Officer (CIAO). In addition to his duties as CIO, Mr. Wennergren is the Vice Chair of the Federal CIO Council. He also serves as the Chair of the Department of Defense Identity Protection and Management Senior Coordinating Group, which provides senior oversight and coordination of biometric, smart card, and PKI initiatives across the entire Department of Defense.

• The deadline for HSPD 12 has passed -- but the Department of the Navy isn't worried -- they're ahead of the game
• How the Department of the Navy is preparing for IPv6 -- and what IPv6 will do for the Department
• What's the most important thing about being a CIO? According to Mr. Wennergren, it involves communication!

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FederalNewsRadio - Ask the CIO - Karen Evans (OMB)

Karen Evans is the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology (IT) at the Office of Management and Budget. In this role, she oversees implementation of IT throughout the Federal government including advising the Director on the performance of IT investments, overseeing the development of enterprise architectures within and across agencies, directing the activities of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council, and overseeing the usage of the E-Government Fund to support interagency partnerships and innovation. She also has responsibilities in the areas of capital planning and investment control, information security, privacy, accessibility of IT for persons with disabilities, and access to, dissemination of, and preservation of government information.

• CIO's and IT security: what's happening and what needs to happen
• HSPD 12: there's a deadline coming up -- but no need to panic
• What IPv6 can do for CIO's

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FederalNewsRadio - Ask the CIO - Patrick Pizzella (DOL)

Patrick Pizzella was nominated for Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management at the Department of Labor by President Bush on April 25, 2001 and confirmed by the U. S. Senate on May 9, 2001. As Assistant Secretary of Labor, Mr. Pizzella serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Labor in the administration and management programs of the Department and as the Department's Chief Information Officer and Chief Human Capital Officer. Mr. Pizzella provides leadership and policy guidance to the Secretary of Labor in the areas of budget, human resources, information technology, procurement, facilities management, administration, and the Department's overall civil rights program. The Department of Labor administers a multitude of federal programs and has a budget of $56 billion and 17,000 employees nationwide.

• Keeping everything (even laptops) secure at the Department of Labor
• HSPD 12: a deadline approaches -- but the Department of Labor is ready
• Looking ahead when it comes to IT security

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