AFCEA Bethesda Engage & Connect Breakfast

The $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, enacted into law last December, allocates funds to sustain federal government operations throughout the 2023 fiscal year.  But what, exactly, is in the 4,155-page Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023? What does $1.7 trillion buy? At a high level, the annual allocation increases military spending ($858 billion) and outlays for domestic programs ($772.5 billion). At the program level, the bill supports everything from aid to Ukraine and domestic emergency disaster assistance to pay raises for federal workers and military service personnel, as well as billions of dollars for health care and research programs at NIH and the CDC.

So what’s in it for federal IT professionals and their private-sector partners who support modernization of federal networks? Determining the effect of the 2023 spending bill on digital transformation of the public sector isn’t a snap. The answer is in the details, such as $50 million for the Technology Modernization Fund that supports federal agency IT modernization projects and $11.1 million to the Treasury Department data processing equipment and software. Adding to the lack of clarity, much of the recent funding for IT projects landed in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which became law the year before enactment of the 2023 omnibus spending package.

Join us on March 21 to hear federal IT and budget experts demystify the intricacies of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act.