Bush Signs E-Government ActBush Signs E-Government Act

Just in time to welcome 2003, the E-Government Act of 2002 is law. President Bush signed the legislation Tuesday.

"The act will help make the government more accessible to taxpayers and do so at a better cost and savings to the taxpayers," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says.

The new law contains scores of provisions, but in a statement announcing it, Bush only mentioned a few sections to emphasize administration policy. In a White House that encourages increased outsourcing of IT work, Bush noted the new law lets government agencies award so-called share-in-savings outsourcing contracts in which contractors share in the savings achieved by agencies through use of IT. The president also noted that provisions in the act tightening IT security management would supersede any conflicting provisions in the Homeland Security Act, which Bush signed Nov. 25. "There is no indication that the Congress intended the E-Government Act to provide interim provisions that would apply only until the Homeland Security Act took effect," Bush said.

In addition, Bush said he will use his presidential authority to protect sensitive national-security, law-enforcement, and foreign-relations information if the new law conflicts with the operation, control, and management of national security.

A major part of the new law establishes the Office of Electronic Government within the White House Office of Management and Budget. Sponsors of the legislation on Capitol Hill had wanted to establish a Senate-confirmed federal CIO for that post, but the administration balked at such a move, and lawmakers compromised by creating the E-administrator's post, which doesn't require Senate confirmation. In his statement, Bush didn't say who would fill that job, but a logical candidate would be Mark Forman, whose position as associate director for IT and E-government at OMB mirrors many of the new post's responsibilities.

The law also authorizes $345 million over four years for interagency E-government projects, requires privacy-impact assessments for new IT systems that contain personal information, improves FirstGov.gov--the federal government's centralized Web portal--so information and services are organized according to citizens' needs, establishes an online directory of federal Web sites, requires federal courts to post opinions online, and improves recruitment and training of IT professionals.

Other provisions oblige agencies to establish online rule making, encourage compatibility of electronic signatures, and provide strong new privacy protections. In addition, it makes permanent information security laws initially enacted through the Government Information Security Reform Act.

One of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said the E-Government Act brings the federal government fully into the electronic age, "giving taxpayers the same round-the-clock access to government that they have come to expect from the private sector. And, with its emphasis on better management of information services, this law will significantly add to our overall homeland defenses."