The Office of Management and Budget defended federal management of the year 2000 computer problem after lawmakers accused agencies of poor accounting and misspending of funds designated for Y2K fixes.
Last week, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, released a General Accounting Office report that concluded most agencies do not track actual Y2K costs. The report also charged that agencies spent money allocated for year 2000 fixes on non-Y2K related information technology investments.
But OMB spokeswoman Linda Ricci said the administration has set rigorous standards for agencies' Y2K spending.
"OMB is continually scrubbing agencies' Y2K numbers to determine what needs there are and whether any adjustments are necessary," Ricci said. "That happens on a regular basis. For an agency to get emergency Y2K funds, they must carefully and rigorously justify the purpose of those funds."
Ricci said agencies also must submit their Y2K funding requests to Congress. Congress provided much of the Y2K money agencies are now spending in last year's omnibus appropriations bill, which targeted $2.25 billion for civilian agencies and $1.1 billion for the Defense Department to work on solving the year 2000 problem.
Last week, Armey, Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., and Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., charged the Treasury Department with spending $92 million intended for Y2K projects on non-Y2K investments.
But according to a letter sent to members of Congress in November from Nancy Killefer, assistant secretary for management at Treasury, Congress specifically earmarked that money for non-Y2K technology improvements at the Internal Revenue Service. In the letter, Killefer explained that the money would be spent on automating manual collection processes and other technology upgrades.
In their budget requests to OMB and Congress, agencies break down their funding needs by project. The Interior Department, for example, recently requested $8.5 million in emergency Y2K funding for the U.S. Geological Survey. The request included a two-paragraph justification for spending $3,300 to make the voice mail system at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory Y2K-compliant. The request also asked for $1,800 to replace a personal computer at a laboratory in Golden, Colo.
"We disagree entirely with the notion that OMB does not closely scrutinize expenditures," Ricci said.
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