The Justice Department chief information officer would have slightly more money to spend in the coming fiscal year if the Senate Appropriations Committee gets it way.

The committee approved its version of the annual spending bill to fund the Justice Department (and other agencies) Sept. 15; House Appropriators voted for their bill on July 13. Both versions still require considerable legislative action before having a chance to become law by being presented to the president. More often than not in recent decades, Congress has failed to pass appropriation bills by the time the federal fiscal year begins, which is Oct. 1. We are in the final weeks of fiscal 2011.

Senate appropriators would give the Justice Information Sharing Technology budget line $47 million--still less than the $54.3 million requested, but more than the House appropriators amount of $44.31 million.  

The budget line is a centralized account under the control of the DOJ chief information officer. Among the programs that it funds is the Law Enforcement Sharing Program, a Justice-wide effort to share information about terrorism, criminal activity, and threats to public safety. Also under the info sharing budget line is the Unified Financial Management System, the department's cybersecurity program, and the Joint Automated Booking System. JABS, like its name implies, automates the booking process for DOJ law enforcement components, and also interfaces with the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Senator appropriators would cut even more than their House counterparts when it comes to the Law Enforcement Wireless Communications budget request, which would get $87 million under their version, as opposed to the $99.8 million approved by House appropriators. The line item in the past funded the Integrated Wireless Network, a planned nationwide interoperable wireless network for federal law enforcement--a project suspended except for rollout in the national capital region. 

In their report accompanying the spending bill, Senate appropriators call on the department to submit a report that addresses whether alternative funding sources could be tapped to fund an interoperable Justice wireless network. They add that Justice "does not have the budgetary resources to fund other agencies' use of the network." IWN was originally envisioned as joint Homeland Security and Justice departmental program that would unify all federal law enforcement communications; wireless interoperability among federal agencies can be problematic.

Senate appropriators also voice more skepticism than their House counterparts when it comes to the FBI information technology case management program known as Sentinel.

"Relatively little was achieved, in terms of delivered benefits to end users, through Phases 1 and 2, even though more than 90 percent of the project budget was consumed," they write, adding that they are "skeptical that all of Phases 3 and 4 can still be achieved with so little remaining funding unless major corners are cut in either execution or function."

However the FBI has said it can complete Sentinel within its $451 million budget. Senate appropriators, saying that they hold the FBI to that commitment, consequently say the bureau should not spend anything in excess of $451 million without first notifying the committee, even the if amount expended falls below the reprogramming notification threshold.

For more:
- go to the THOMAS page for the House fiscal 2012 CJS spending bill (H.R. 2596)
- go to the THOMAS page for the Senate fiscal 2012 CJS spending bill (S.1572)
- read our coverage of the fiscal 2012 appropriations process

Related Articles:
Senate harder on science appropriations than House 
House subcommittee gives DOJ tech programs mixed funding results 
DOJ's IWN faces cancellation 
Report questions FBI's ability to implement agile development for Sentinel