December 4, 2024
The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed Congressman Nick Langworthy’s bipartisan Source Code Harmonization and Reuse in Information Technology (SHARE IT) Act (H.R. 9566). This legislation will require federal agencies to share custom-developed source code, eliminating duplicative and costly government contracts to build software.
“Each year, the government spends approximately $6 billion on software development, a portion of which funds the creation of custom code for agency-specific programs,” said Congressman Langworthy on the House Floor. “Without a clear mandate for code-sharing, agencies are left operating in silos. This leads to costly duplication, as they pay contractors to recreate solutions that already exist elsewhere within the federal government.”
He continued, “The SHARE IT Act addresses this problem directly. It mandates that agencies publicly list and share their custom code—allowing solutions to be reused across the government, saving both time and money. Importantly, the bill includes provisions to safeguard sensitive or classified information, ensuring national security and privacy are not compromised.”
Specifically, this legislation mandates that agencies share the software they develop or purchase while still protecting sensitive code related to national security, classified information, and individual privacy. Additionally, this bill holds agency Chief Information Officers accountable for overseeing this process and submitting annual compliance reports to Congress, all without the need for additional funding by utilizing existing platforms like code.gov and private sector options.
