2012 White House Budget Increases Cyber IT Funds

A look at the week of February 21 in public advocacy for the IT channel

The Senate-approved version of the 1099 tax provision repeal bill clashes with a version of the repeal approved by House Ways and Means Committee regarding how the government can pay for the repeal.  This week, the Senate’s cyber bill was updated with language explicitly prohibiting the President from shutting down the Internet.  The White House’s 2012 budget looks to update its IT systems in order to save money in the long term.

1099 Repeal Gets Trickier With House Bill — When the Senate voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to repeal an unpopular IRS reporting requirement, it seemed like the provision was destined for elimination. But the bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee is setting up another partisan showdown on how to pay for repealing healthcare reform's much-maligned 1099 reporting requirement, according to The Hill.

Killing the 'Kill Switch' — The Cybersecurity Freedom Act of 2011, introduced last week, is nearly identical to the legislation introduced last year except for two changes, says Politico. First, the bill adds language explicitly stating the President can't shut down the Internet. Second, the measure includes language permitting the owners of assets deemed critical infrastructure by the federal government — and therefore subject to additional Department of Homeland Security regulations — to appeal that decision in a federal court.

2012 White House Budget Increases Cyber IT Funds — While President Obama's fiscal 2012 budget requests relatively flat funding for IT government-wide, a greater portion of the funds are expected to go toward security, Nextgov.com reports. The Obama Administration is attempting to save money by phasing out costly in-house systems and outsourcing the equipment and services to Web-hosting companies that offer access to the same tools via remote, shared servers.