Murphy Provision Promoting Cost-Effective Government Software Policies Passes House
Press Release
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the MEGABYTE Act to save taxpayer dollars by requiring the federal government to develop a comprehensive software licensing policy across all agencies. This is one of the major provisions included in the SAVE Act, authored by Congressman Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18), to cut approximately $479 billion in wasteful government spending. In addition to the passage of this provision, seven Murphy amendments cutting billions in federal spending taken from proposals in his bipartisan SAVE Acts (H.R. 1999, H.R. 3146, and H.R. 5152) passed the House last Congress with broad bipartisan support.
"One of my top priorities since coming to Congress has been rooting out waste and increasing efficiency in the federal government. This is a common-sense provision that will do just that, ending fragmented and ineffective software practices by buying in bulk and shedding unnecessary licenses to save taxpayer dollars," said Murphy. "While we can always find more waste to cut, this bill is a good start. I hope both parties come together to pass additional SAVE Act provisions to protect taxpayer money and make our government more accountable."
Background:
The SAVE Act directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to require the chief information officers (CIOs) of federal agencies to develop comprehensive software licensing policies. Such policies must keep automated inventories that gather information on software licensing agreements covering at least 80 percent of enterprise licenses, track software licenses on a regular basis, and analyze usage and other data to make cost-effective decisions. Training must also be provided to assist with managing software licenses, and clear goals must be established for each agency's management program. Cost savings and avoidance on software acquisition would be released in public reports. This proposal follows a recommendation by the Government Accountability Office for better management of software licensing "(i)n order to achieve hundreds of millions of dollars in government-wide savings."
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