Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, March 2, 2006, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Information Technology (IT) budget.  The hearing focused on the FY 2007 budget request and reviewed funding for some FY 2006 IT projects. 

Although the purpose of the hearing was for the Subcommittee to act in due diligence and conduct oversight on the newly formed VA IT spending account, the VA’s ongoing IT reorganization evolved into the major issue of the hearing.  Both Republican and Democratic Members of the Oversight Subcommittee lambasted VA on its lack of progress and ability to restructure the Department’s IT infrastructure from the current decentralized model to an alternative model that would provide the Chief Information Officer with more budget authority over VA IT spending. 

“While IT issues may seem mundane to some, we make a significant investment in information technology each year, and I believe it is important that we ensure that we are getting the best “bang for our buck,” said Subcommittee Chairman Michael Bilirakis. 

Last year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4061, the Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Management Improvement Act.  The bill would centralize VA IT infrastructure to ensure that the VA CIO has line item and budget authority over all IT matters.  The bill passed the House of Representatives 408 to 0 in November 2005, but the Senate has not yet acted on the measure. 

In a sometimes vocal exchange, Chairman Bilirakis’ asked VA Deputy Secretary Mansfield “are we wrong?  Are Members of the full Committee wrong?  Are 408 Members of the House of Representatives wrong in our efforts to better centralize VA IT?” 

In testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on October 20, 2005, Secretary Mansfield stated that “the Secretary has recently made a decision to proceed with implementing the federated model in reorganizing VA IT.”   

Comments before the Senate also pointed out that it was going to take 12-18 months to implement a federated model.  “This was in October; four months have passed, could you please tell us what specific steps the Department has taken on implementing the Secretary’s federated model?,” Chairman Bilirakis inquired. 

Ranking Member Ted Strickland expressed concern after the hearing that, “previous attempts to centralize IT at VA – even when supported by the Secretary –were never realized.” 

The Subcommittee also addressed FY 2006 funding projects identified in a line-item format required by Public Law 109-114, to include the funding of CoreFLS and transfer of funds to the Financial Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise (FLITE) program.  The Subcommittee requested follow-up from the Department on the reprogramming of funds from CoreFLS to FLITE.     

While the Subcommittee praised the VA on its electronic medical records capability, there was bipartisan concern over the funding for the 25 year old VistA platform, and several programs linked to the legacy system in advance of its re-hosting.