MeriTalk’s Top Technology Legislation for 2022

The Chips and Science Act

The Chips and Science Act, signed into law on Aug. 9, focuses on expanding the United States’ ability to manufacture semiconductor chips domestically, and lower reliance on foreign made chips.

The legislation received bipartisan support, with the House approving the measure by a vote of 243-187, and the Senate approving with a vote of 64-33. Many of the legislation’s provisions came from the USICA/COMPETES legislation that failed earlier in the year to clear a House-Senate conference committee.

The legislation includes $52 billion of funding focused on incentivizing manufacturers to invest in building semiconductor plants across the United States. The law also includes billions more for Federal research and development, and for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a technology directorate.
Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act passed on Aug. 16 aims to help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rebuild its antiquated technology systems and networks.

The legislation gives the IRS $80 billion over ten years for a rebuilding effort, including $5 billion slated for “business systems modernization,” aimed at boosting the agency’s three-year-old IT modernization plan, which had already received $275 million from the fiscal year 2022 budget and a one-time shot of $1 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. The IRS’s systems date to as far back as the 1960s, which has drawn criticism from lawmakers concerned about the use

The bill passed the House by a small margin of 220-207, and many of the provisions in the legislation deal with non-tech issues including climate change efforts.
The Veteran Affairs Electronic Health Record Transparency Act

The Veteran Affairs Electronic Health Record Transparency Act was signed into law by President Biden on June 23, and aims to help increase the amount of transparency at the agency’s EHRM system program, whose development and rollout has been problematic.

The main focus of the law is to require the VA to give periodic reports on program metrics such as costs, performance and outcomes to help keep the program accountable to veterans.

The legislation was originally introduced last year by Sen Jerry Moran, R-Kan., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, after serious concerns surfaced about the program. “Now that this legislation has been signed into law, we can make certain the VA is providing the proper transparency throughout the EHRM implementation,” the senator said. “This will better allow the committee to conduct oversight during the deployment process to ensure veterans receive the care they deserve and hold the VA accountable for taxpayer dollars.”
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Extension Act of 2022

The law was signed by President Biden on Sept. 30, and focuses on strengthening commercial partnerships between the federal government and private firms.

The bill also created a due diligence program that helps deter program applicants that may pose a “potential risk” due to foreign ties. According to the White House, the programs also established “minimum performance standards for firms that have won a certain number of awards during a specified period of time.”

“America’s innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs will have another three years of certainty as they continue to create opportunities which lead to jobs and equity in our nation’s innovation economy,” stated Isabella Casillas Guzman, who heads the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

President Biden signed this piece of legislation into law on March 15 after it passed both the Senate and the House with bipartisan support.

The spending bill featured many substantial cybersecurity and technology measures including bumping up the budget of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to $2.6 billion.

Among other items, the bill included:
- An $11 million increase for the Multi-State Information and Analysis Center, bringing funding for the information sharing and analysis center designed to share cyber threats, vulnerability, and analysis across state lines to $38 million for FY2022;
- An additional $20 million to begin to build out a Next-Generation 9-1-1 ecosystem program; and
- A $47.6 million increase in funding for Next-Generation Networks Priority Services.