The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) is once again accepting new project proposals, but acting Executive Director Jessie Posilkin warned this week that the fund’s future hinges on congressional action before its authorization expires at the end of September.
Speaking at Federal News Network’s Cloud Exchange event on June 10, Posilkin said the TMF has resumed building its investment pipeline after a slowdown last year. She said the fund has more than $200 million available to invest in technology modernization projects during fiscal year 2025.
“I think that the real priority for the TMF is being reauthorized,” Posilkin said. “If we do not get reauthorized, all of these other conversations become moot.”
“First things first, we need Congress to reauthorize us,” she added. “They can pick their method. I’m not lobbying for any particular one, but something’s got to happen there.”
Created under the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017, the TMF provides agencies with funding for technology modernization projects that agencies can repay over time. The fund’s authorization is set to expire Sept. 30 unless Congress acts.
Posilkin said that the TMF has delivered approximately $12 billion in estimated cost savings and efficiency gains.
The acting TMF director addressed what she described as a key congressional concern surrounding the fund’s repayment model.
“One of the big questions is whether or not we actually get the repayments that were promised, and the answer is yes, we do,” she said. “We are at 100% of agencies repaying on time … all agencies have paid us back.”
She said TMF is currently working with its current agency partners to cultivate proposals. The fund is also working with GSA and Office of Management and Budget leadership to develop new calls for proposals that could launch “in the next six to eight weeks.”
However, she stressed that agencies must have competitive proposals that describe a strong value proposition. To help with that, she said the TMF has set up cohorts for agencies to talk to one another and share success stories.
Posilkin said those cohorts meet monthly and hold quarterly reporting meetings to discuss challenges they’re facing, compare notes, and solve problems.
“Typically, the TMF board has only approved about 15% of the proposals that we’ve gotten,” Posilkin said. “I hope that number tips up just a teeny bit, … but I expect it to remain similarly competitive.”
“Ultimately, if we’re not making government work better for citizens, we’re not making it work better, and we shouldn’t be investing in it at all,” she added.
This year, she said the TMF has “just over $200 million that we could invest this year.”
“I expect us to invest just a bit less than that, but we’re trying to navigate precisely how much would make sense right now,” Posilkin said.
“Last year was really a period of contraction in the federal government,” she added. “It was not a time that folks were appropriately sort of interested in launching new projects or thinking about taking out long-term loans without fully understanding what the shape of their agency would look like a year from then.”
Nevertheless, she stressed that $200 million is a “drop in the bucket” amid the increasing scale and scope of government technology challenges.
“To me, this feels extra important,” Posilkin said, referring to making a significant capital investment in the TMF. “If the government wants to serve constituents well, we need to make an investment in the tools that make that possible.”
At GovCIO Media & Research’s Federal Tech Leaders Summit on June 12, Posilkin sharpened her warning about the stakes of reauthorization.
“We cannot evaluate any … proposals after September 30 if we are not reauthorized by Congress, despite … $12 billion in [savings] for the American people,” she warned.