The Senate approved legislation on Thursday that U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced to save tax dollars by establishing policies to manage federal software licenses.
The Making Electronic Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible Efficiencies (MEGABYTE) Act, S. 2340, would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to direct executive agencies to identify roles, responsibilities and central oversight authority to manage software license agreements and licenses.
“Billions of taxpayer dollars could be saved if federal agencies kept track of what software they buy. It’s irresponsible they don’t do so already,” Cassidy said. “Tax dollars could be better used on our troops and our classrooms, not redundant software licenses.”
Implementing oversight and management policies for software licenses saved a single agency $181 million taxpayer dollars per year, and the MEGABYTE Act could result in billions in savings for the federal government, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Under the bill, agencies would be required to establish a comprehensive inventory of software agreements and licenses, and track software licenses and usage to help inform investments.
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who introduced the bill with Cassidy, said that efficient oversight of federal software license purchasing would reduce wasteful spending and lead to the more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
“I am pleased that this bipartisan, commonsense legislation that could potentially save billions of dollars each year is now heading to the president’s desk to be signed into law,” Peters said.
The House companion to Cassidy’s bill, H.R. 4904, passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The legislation now goes to the president’s desk to be signed into law.