[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5792 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5792
To require the Administrator of General Services to establish the
Digital Service Agreement Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 1, 2021
Mr. Connolly (for himself and Ms. Eshoo) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Administrator of General Services to establish the
Digital Service Agreement Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``State and Local Digital Service Act
of 2021''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(2) Digital service agreement.--The term ``digital service
agreement'' means a grant awarded or a cooperative agreement or
memorandum of understanding entered into under section 3.
(3) Digital service team.--The term ``digital service
team'' means a team of employees of an eligible applicant that
extends existing software development capacity and directly
supports and improves service delivery, focusing on user-
centered design and development practices through the use of
modern product development techniques, such as--
(A) user research and design;
(B) incremental and iterative outcome driven
delivery practices; and
(C) procurement and funding practices for software
development that rely on outcome-driven, modular
contracts.
(4) Eligible application.--The term ``eligible applicant''
means a State, eligible Tribal government, or unit of local
government, or any instrument thereof.
(5) Eligible tribal government.--The term ``eligible Tribal
government'' means the recognized governing body of any Indian
or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village,
community, component band, or component reservation,
individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list
published most recently as of the date of enactment of this Act
pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian
Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).
(6) Specialized or technical services.--The term
``specialized or technical services'' means statistical and
other studies and compilations, development projects, technical
tests and evaluations, technical information, training
activities, surveys, reports, documents, products, platforms,
and other similar services.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given that
term in section 549(a) of title 40, United States Code.
(8) Underserved or disadvantaged community.--The term
``underserved or disadvantaged community'' means--
(A) a low-income community;
(B) a community of color;
(C) a Tribal community;
(D) a rural community;
(E) aging individuals;
(F) individuals with disabilities;
(G) individuals with a language barrier, including
individuals who--
(i) are English learners; or
(ii) have low levels of literacy;
(H) veterans; or
(I) any other community that the Administrator
determines is disproportionately vulnerable to, or
bears a disproportionate burden of, any combination of
economic, social, environmental, or climate stressors.
(9) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local
government'' means a city, county, township, town, borough,
parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision
of a State.
SEC. 3. DIGITAL SERVICE AGREEMENT.
(a) In General.--The Administrator, in consultation with the
Administrator of the United States Digital Service, shall establish a
Digital Service Agreement Program, under which the Administrator shall
award grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements or memoranda of
understanding with, eligible applicants in accordance with the
requirements of this section for the purpose of planning, establishing,
or supporting a digital service team or supporting digital services
collaboration between digital service teams to improve the delivery of
government assistance through digital services.
(b) Digital Service Agreement Criteria.--In considering whether to
execute a digital service agreement under this section, the
Administrator, in consultation with the Administrator of the United
States Digital Service, shall consider--
(1) evidence of significant executive support from the
eligible applicant for the establishment of digital service
teams and a commitment to modernizing government technology and
service delivery;
(2) evidence of the ability and commitment of the eligible
applicant to ensure sustainment of digital service teams after
the end of the digital services agreement, including financial
resources and any administrative changes that may be necessary;
(3) the extent to which the eligible applicant may be able,
and is committed, to adopting innovative procurement and
service design practices;
(4) whether the eligible applicant would be otherwise
unable to establish or support digital service teams without a
digital service agreement;
(5) the extent to which the establishment of digital
service teams by the eligible applicant is likely to lead to
improvements in service delivery related to Federal programs;
(6) to the extent applicable, whether an eligible applicant
intends to support a collaborative agreement under subsection
(c);
(7) whether the eligible applicant will prioritize the use
of more than 50 percent of the amounts received under a digital
service agreement for salary and benefits of the members of the
digital service team; and
(8) any other criteria determined by the Administrator and
included in a notice of funding availability made available in
advance to all eligible applicants.
(c) Collaborative Agreements.--The Administrator may execute a
digital service agreement with 1 or more eligible applicants, in
accordance with the criteria established in subsection (b), for the
purpose of supporting collaborative service delivery projects across
jurisdictional boundaries.
(d) Planning Support.--In addition to the digital service agreement
criteria under subsection (b), the Administrator shall, to the greatest
extent possible, minimize the burden on eligible applicants in the
development of proposals for a digital service agreement, including by
providing direct technical assistance to eligible applicants in the
preparation applications for digital service agreements.
(e) Supplement Not Supplant.--Any awards made as part of a digital
service agreement with an eligible applicant shall supplement, not
supplant, other Federal, State, local, or Tribal funds that are
available to the eligible applicant to carry out activities described
in this section.
(f) Limitations.--
(1) Term.--A digital service agreement shall have a term of
not longer than 5 years, unless the Administrator determines
that a longer term is warranted to ensure significant return on
investment or the adoption of innovative practices to meet the
requirements of the eligible applicant.
(2) Amount.--A digital service agreement may not exceed
$10,000,000, unless the Administrator determines that a greater
amount is likely to provide a significant return on investment
or the adoption of innovative practices to meet the
requirements of the eligible applicant.
(3) Congressional notification.--Not later than 30 days
before the Administrator executes or modifies a digital
services agreement that would result in a term in excess of the
maximum term specified under paragraph (1) or exceed the
maximum amount specified under paragraph (2), the Administrator
shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and Committee on
Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives notice and
an explanation of the reasons for the determinations by the
Administrator.
(g) Matching Requirement.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Federal share of an activity carried out using amounts received
under a digital service agreement for establishing or
supporting a digital service team shall be not more than 90
percent.
(2) Waiver.--Upon application by an eligible applicant, the
Administrator may waive the requirement under paragraph (1) if
the Administrator determines that the eligible applicant
demonstrates financial need.
(h) Set Asides.--
(1) In general.--From amounts made available in a fiscal
year to carry out the Digital Service Agreement Program under
this section, the Administrator shall reserve not more than 10
percent for the implementation and administration of the
program, which shall include--
(A) providing assistance to eligible applicants to
prepare applications for digital service agreements in
accordance with subsection (d);
(B) upon request of an eligible applicant whose
application is successful, providing technical support
and assistance to support the execution of a digital
services agreement;
(C) assisting eligible applicants in preparing and
submitting reports required under section 4;
(D) conducting outreach to eligible applicants
regarding opportunities to apply for digital service
agreements; and
(E) such other actions determined by the
Administrator to carry out the program.
(2) Eligible tribal governments.--From amounts made
available in a fiscal year to carry out the Digital Service
Agreement Program under this section, the Administrator may use
not less than 10 percent for digital service agreements with
eligible Tribal governments.
(i) Consultation and Public Engagement.--In carrying out this Act,
the Administrator shall conduct ongoing collaboration and consultation
with--
(1) the Administrator of the United States Digital Service;
(2) State agencies and governors of States (or equivalent
officials);
(3) national, State, local, and Tribal organizations that
have digital service teams or that have particular experience
with providing digital services for underserved or
disadvantaged communities;
(4) researchers, academics, and philanthropic
organizations;
(5) industry stakeholders that have demonstrated experience
in designing, developing, and supporting digital services team
and modern technology service delivery projects on behalf of
public sector clients; and
(6) other agencies, organizations, entities, and community
stakeholders as determined appropriate by the Administrator.
(j) Spending Limitations.--An eligible applicant may use amounts
received under a digital service agreement for salaries and benefits of
members of a digital service team and other costs related to
establishing or ensuring the capacity and continuity of a digital
service team.
SEC. 4. REPORTING AND EVALUATION.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall require semiannual
progress reports from eligible applicants awarded or entering into a
digital service agreement, and shall make a publicly available
dashboard of service delivery metrics, performance measures, and
progress under the terms and conditions of any digital service
agreements.
(b) Availability of Results to Congress and Public.--The
Administrator shall make available on a public website the results from
the Digital Service Agreement Program, which shall include the
following:
(1) A description of digital service agreements executed
under the Digital Service Agreement Program, including the
following:
(A) The cost and scope of each digital service
agreement, including the type of agreement awarded or
entered into and information regarding compliance with
the matching requirements under section 3(g).
(B) The name of each recipient that, as of the date
of the report, has a digital services agreement that is
in effect, including identifying whether the eligible
applicant is an eligible Tribal government, a territory
of the United States, or an underserved or
disadvantaged community.
(C) An analysis of common characteristics regarding
the full allocation of digital services agreements in
effect.
(D) An accounting of the expenditure of funds
received by an eligible applicant under a digital
services agreement and the cost to the Federal
Government to administer the Digital Services Agreement
Program under this Act.
(2) Information regarding successes of, failures of,
lessons learned by, opportunities for improvement for, or
recommendations related to the Digital Service Agreement
Program or eligible applicants.
(3) Any additional information determined necessary by the
Administrator.
SEC. 5. STATE USE OF FEDERAL RESOURCES.
(a) General.--In addition to the authority provided by section 3,
the Administrator may provide an eligible applicant specialized or
technical services on a reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis.
(b) Prohibition on Federal Mandate.--The Administrator may not
require, as a condition of a digital service agreement, the use of any
Federal service, program, or resources other than as necessary to plan,
establish, or support a digital service under this Act.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Agreements.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Administrator to carry out this Act $100,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2022 through 2028.
(b) Amounts for Audit and Oversight.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Inspector General of the General Services
Administration $1,000,000 for the first fiscal year during which
digital service agreements are awarded or entered into, and each of the
7 fiscal years thereafter, for audits and oversight of funds made
available to carry out this Act.
(c) Availability.--Amounts made available pursuant to subsections
(a) and (b) shall remain available until expended.
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