The Wrap: Telework (Policy) Ending; CX Improvement Bill; IRS Big Fix

Welcome to The Wrap for Thursday, April 20!

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From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

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Major Telework Policy Ending

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said this week it will remove the COVID-19 governmentwide operating status on May 15.That means the pandemic-era policy first put in place in March 2020 – a massive jump-start for telework throughout the Federal workforce – will no longer drive how and where Federal employees work. The next big guidepost on telework will come from agencies as they comply over the next few weeks with guidance?from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directing agencies to increase the amount of “meaningful” in-person work at Federal offices, while also balancing telework as an important retention tool. With tech talent always in limited supply, and the government working overtime to attract more, we’re thinking that telework benefits are more likely to persist within the IT and cyber ranks. Just a guess, though. Notably, OPM said that removing the three-year old operating status only applies to Feds working at executive agencies with offices located inside the “Washington Capital Beltway.” For those employees working outside of the Washington, D.C. area, OPM said they should follow the operating status announcements issued by their agency.

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House CX Improvement Drive

Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., reintroduced legislation on April 18 that would codify into law parts of President Biden’s 2021 executive order (EO) that directs Federal agencies to make citizen-focused improvements to government services. The?Trust in Government Act?–?first introduced?by Rep. Porter in the fall of 2022 would codify into law portions of Biden’s order that drive at citizen service improvements when dealing with repaying student loans, applying online for Social Security benefits, and renewing passports.

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Communicate, Collaborate

During MeriTalk’s?Centralize and Secure Your Agency’s Digital Workspace?webinar yesterday, industry and government experts said that in a fast-moving digital world, Federal agencies must be able to collaborate across departments, with other agencies, and other outside partners without the headaches of disjointed email chains and lack of access to important context and documentation. “There are two big impacts whenever you can’t communicate either across an agency … or if you’re not able to communicate across organizations,” said Ross Foard, a senior engineer at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “What it tends to do is to create a lot of silos and communication … and you tend not to be able to utilize modern technology because modern technologies are all about sharing.” Please hit the link for the whole conversation…

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IRS Eyes 2028 for Big Fix

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel- told members of the Senate Finance Committee at an April 19 committee hearing that the agency is aiming to complete an overhaul of its key Individual Master File system by 2028. The Individual Master File is the system that the IRS uses to store and process tax submissions, and is used as the main data input to process IRS transactions. The system dates back to the 1960s, and working on a system overhaul is one of the priorities sought in the White House’s fiscal year 2024 budget request for IRS. While some committee members groused about IRS funding in general, nobody is standing up against the Master File work. “We think the American people deserve to have the most up to date technology,” Werfel said.

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Sorting out the VA EHRM Bills

Lawmakers in recent weeks have offered several proposals to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program, and officials from the VA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told House members on April 19 that they think only one of them – the?Department of Veterans Affairs IT Modernization Improvement Act introduced by Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., is likely to be of benefit short of a more radical move to start over the EHRM upgrade from scratch. The measure would “require the VA to contract for the independent verification and validation (IV&V) of certain modernization efforts,” which won the qualified endorsement of Phillip Christy, deputy executive director of VA’s Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction.

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Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy.

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And finally, please hit the news tip jar [with leads, breaking news, 7or simply your two cents] at [email protected].