TSA transparency in technology acquisition bill advanced by House

The U.S. House of Representatives passed this week the Transparency in Technological Acquisitions Act of 2017, which aims to increase transparency in the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) technology acquisition process in order to ensure businesses both large and small can meet the agency’s needs.

The bill was authored by U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY).

Under the 2014 Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, the agency is required to develop a five-year technology acquisition plan, partly to allow security technology manufacturers to align their resources to meet its future needs. TSA released its first five-year acquisition plan in Aug. 2015.

After the Obama Administration released its budget request for that year, industry stakeholders found that TSA changed its plans to align itself better with the President’s proposed budget and would no longer follow its own acquisition schedule, wasting both investment time and resources. This practice, Rice says, can completely destroy small businesses and would discourage other small business owners from working with the federal government.

Rice’s bill now requires the TSA to make annual updates to Congress on its acquisition plan, instead of every two years. It also requires the agency to quickly notify Congress and included stakeholders of any updates made to its plans.

“Establishing this level of ongoing engagement and collaboration between TSA and manufacturers will help encourage more technological innovation, which is one of the most effective tools we can use to confront the new and evolving threats facing our aviation industry,” Rice said.